Majority of Hongkongers willing to sign document setting out end-of-life treatment, survey finds
Academic says government needs to enact legislation to back up such documents
More than 60 per cent of Hongkongers wish to sign a document that gives more control on how they spend their final moments when they are terminally ill, the city’s first territory-wide end-of-life survey has found.
The findings are set to reignite the debate on whether the government should enact a law to ensure a patient’s will to die peacefully will be respected by his or her family and doctor.
There is currently no law to back up the execution of a patient’s will. Hospitals may fail to execute it if there is a dispute over the decision or it is challenged by a patient’s family.
“We would urge the government to legislate [advance directives] ... Our phone survey indicates that many people would want to have it if they know what it is,” said Roger Chung Yat-nork, assistant professor at Chinese University’s school of public health and primary care who led the survey.