Achieving self-sufficiency in skin allograft: A Singapore experience

This paper describes how Singapore achieved skin allograft self-sufficiency in 2017 by adopting 5 key strategies in 2012.

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) established its own allograft recovery programme in 1998 but was still dependent on overseas allograft procurement.

RESULTS: The allograft recovery programme expanded from 4 to all 20 institutions. Donor referrals increased by 42.9% from 35 in 2014 to over 50 currently. Donor numbers increased by 210%, rising from 4.5 per year before 2015 to an average of 14 per year from 2015 to 2022. The total allografts recovered increased by 223%, climbing from 13,000 to 42,000 annually. Cryopreservation was adopted, extending shelf life to 5.5 years and doubling storage capacity to more than 140,000 cm² in 2022.

Singapore achieved skin allograft self-sufficiency with no overseas procurement since 2017.