A WAITING LIST FOR ORGANS
In Singapore, a mother’s decision to donate the organs of her brain dead 14-year-old child made headlines in late May.
The boy, identified as secondary school student Isaac Loo, had collapsed during a 2.4km run, according to local reports.
While his mother was initially hesitant, she ultimately went ahead after being told there were hundreds of people on a waiting list.
As of last December, there are more than 500 patients on the national waiting list, said the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU) and Ministry of Health (MOH) in response to CNA’s queries.
The waiting time depends on various factors and is largely due to a “small pool of eventual deceased organ donors, as not all deceased patients are clinically suitable to proceed with organ donation”, they added.
The potential donor must be assessed to be medically suitable and with a recipient match, said NOTU and MOH.
This week also marked World Transplant Day on Jun 6, an annual reminder of the thousands of people around the world who are alive due to transplantation.
In Singapore, the Human Organ Transplant Act or HOTA allows the heart, liver, kidneys and cornea from deceased Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 21 and above to be donated for transplantation, unless they have opted out.
Over the last ten years, the opt-out rate for HOTA has remained at around three per cent of the population, NOTU and MOH added.
The deceased organ transplant rates in Singapore for kidney, liver and heart were 6.59, 3.89 and 0.85 per million population respectively last year.
Those aged 18 and above can also pledge their organs, tissues and entire body for transplantation, treatment, education or research after death under an opt-in scheme known as the Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act (MTERA).
If someone has not pledged their organs under MTERA before passing away, or was under 18 years old, the adult next-of-kin can give consent for donation on their behalf.