review of law on organ transplant
I REFER to the letter “Organ transplants are more complex” (The Star, June 23). Organ transplant is a complex issue with many factors involved.
1. Those who need organs and those who donate will have to register with the National Transplant Resources Centre (NTRC).
2. When there is a donor, there will have to be a tissue match with the person receiving the organ.
3. In case of cadaver transplant (organ from dead persons), the family or next of kin of a person who had consented to donate his organ when he was alive might refuse to agree so it is not possible to go ahead with harvesting the organ(s).
4. In the case of live transplant, where a person who donates his/ her organ to another living person, the person who receives must be a close blood relative. Live transplants are better as the operation can be elective and well planed.
There is also the opt-in and optout law. Opt-in (practised in Malaysia) involves a person signing up to donate his/her organ. Opt-out is practised in a number countries including Singapore. In this system, people are deemed to have consented to organ donation if they do not clearly state their wish not to.
Almost all the live and cadaver transplants are done by Health Ministry Hospitals. Hospital University Malaya and IJN also perform organ transplants. They follow strict regulations set by the Health Ministry, which is very wary of the sale of organs – as has happened or is happening in some countries – if private hospitals are allowed to perform organ transplants.
Organ transplants are governed by the Human Tissue Act 1974, which does not allow for life transplants. We need to amend the Act or have a new Act. This may allow private Hospitals to perform transplants if they follow the Health Ministry guidelines.
The Health Ministry has drafted the Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill which is now in second stage of public consultation. If private hospitals want to do organ transplants, they would have to engage the Health Ministry for consultation.