All Hongkongers organ donors? Minister consider poll to gauge how to boost the city's pitiful donation rate
The health minister says an opinion poll might be conducted to gauge public views on a proposal to make all Hongkongers organ donors unless they opt out.
Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man yesterday said he believed a scheme in which everyone was presumed to have given consent, already adopted by some countries, would be a good way to boost Hong Kong's pitiful organ donation rate.
But he stressed it was important for the government to know if residents accepted the practice, which would make all usable organs from deceased patients available unless a person had expressed a wish not to donate.
"I think we all know that the organ donation rate in Hong Kong is low compared with that in many other developed countries," Ko said. "There is a need to review organ donation measures in Hong Kong."
Ko said there were presently nine organ donation coordinators at public hospitals responsible for liaising with doctors and family members on organ harvesting and operations, and that public hospitals should review if the manpower and resources were sufficient.
He was speaking after Jamella Mangali Lo, 19, who was waiting for a double lung transplant, died after suitable organs were not found. At any given time, more than 2,000 patients in Hong Kong are waiting for donations of vital organs and other body tissues.
But only about 174,000 people - 2.4 per cent of the population - have registered as potential donors in the government's centralised organ donation register.
The organ donation rate in Hong Kong is 5.4 patients per million people, compared with 20.4 in Britain and 27 in the US.
