Text : Nieve Wong (Source: S- le) Photos : Sing Tao ...
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1.What do you think about the opt-in organ donation system in HK? 2. Do you think it is a personal decision whether to sell one’s organ? http://www.organdonation.gov.hk/ http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/ general/201206/27/P201206270484. htm http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/ home.htm Critical questions References A sizable discrepancy between the supply and demand of transplantable organs has led to more people considering the morally dubious reimbursement of donation and organ trade. A A s Key ideas The CODR was established by the Department of Health in November 2008 to make it easier for prospective donors to voluntarily register their wish to donate organs after death, and for such a wish to be more reliably recorded. CODR has reached 100,000 entries since its establishment. T D Did you know? Reimbursed donation vs unconditional donation Legalisation of organ trade CURRENT organ supply is distinguished by two practices: opt-in and opt-out. The opt-in policy requires a potential donor to sign up and self-select the services they wish to provide. It is a permission-based concept. The opt-out policy presumes that all individuals would consent to donating their organs unless otherwise informed. HK adopts the opt-in system IN Hong Kong, all transplanted organs are from voluntary sources. People who intend to donate their organs have to carry a completed organ donation card with them, or register with the Centralised Organ Donation Register (CODR) of the Department of Health (DH) through the internet or by mail. Countries using the opt-in system include Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and many other East Asian countries. European countries favour the opt-out system SWITZERLAND, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Singapore are among the some 20 countries that favour the opt-out system. Though a written statement of refusal to the removal of organs is available, it is still up to the decision of the family of the presumed donor. The opt-out system is becoming popular around the world. New York and Illinois in the US have already switched to opt-out, while the British and Malaysian governments are considering it. organs Trading REGULATIONS concerning organ transaction are enforced strictly in most countries in response to the growth of black market trading to meet the organ shortage. In Hong Kong, the Human Organ Transplant Ordinance aims to prohibit commercial dealings in human organs for transplantation, restrict the transplanting of organs between living persons and the transplanting of imported human organs. But the US National Organ Transplant Act revised in 1987 has no restriction on the trading of organs of living donors. Iran is currently the only country to legalise organ (mainly kidneys) trade. However, transplantable organs at emergency levels and problems brought by the black market will continue to force people to consider making such trade legal. A scholar from the University of Dundee, UK, previously posted his suggestions on the legislation and pricing of organ trading online, saying people should be allowed to offer their kidney at a fixed price of 28,000 pounds (HK$346,961). He said it could help people in debt, save lives, and safeguard the health of both organ givers and takers by eliminating possible exploitation in illegal deals. How about the financially incapable? Will their right to live be exploited? When beneficence becomes a business opportunity, the poor are likely to be pushed out. This is a problem foreseen with legalising organ trading. But looking at numerous desperate patients turning to risky black market organs to survive, few would still claim to hold the moral high ground. THERE is quite a market for organ transplantation. In late August 2012, there were 1,842 patients lining up for kidneys in Hong Kong with an average of only 64 kidney transplantation surgeries carried out each year over the past five years. This supply-demand conflict is just as serious in the US. The average waiting list for a new kidney is around eight years. Forty-six percent of 60-year-olds in the queue died before they received one. Organ shortage has become so pressing that governments are now more inclined to reimburse donations. Financial incentives guarantee feedback. In Taiwan, donors’ families get subsidised for funeral expenses: NT$50,000 (HK$13,245) is offered for a cornea donation and NT$100,000 (HK$26,490) for an organ donation. Hospitals and local organisations also give donors’ death subsidies. While some are concerned with the moral implications of donors or their families entering a deal to be given money in exchange for organs, some hold the view that a moderate subsidy can promote the spirit of giving, honour the donor and support the family. In fact, the US has been looking into the possibilities of issuing a medal of honour, a tax loan and tax exemption as forms of reimbursement. Last month, the British medial ethics think-tank, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, proposed distributing a death subsidy of 1,500 to 5,000 pounds (HK$18,587 to 61,957) to an organ donor, amid a growing trend towards reimbursed donations. Diseases of affluence ACCORDING to the UK newspaper the Daily Mail, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the black market is on the rise again thanks to diseases of affluence. The UN public health body estimates that 10,000 organs are now traded every year, with figures soaring off the back of a huge rise in black market kidney transplants. With kidneys believed to make up 75 percent of the black market in organs, experts believe the rise of diseases of affluence such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems is spurring the trade. Wealthy patients are paying up to 128,500 pounds (HK$1,592,310) for a kidney to gangs, often in China, India and Pakistan, who harvest the organs from desperate people for as little as 3,200 pounds (HK$39,652). The WHO does not know how many of the 106,879 known transplant operations in 2010 were performed with illegally harvested organs, but Dr Luc Noel, a WHO official, believes the figure could be as high as 10 percent. K K Opt-in vs opt-out 6 November 2012 Tuesday E06-07 L iberal S tudies ■ Text : Nieve Wong (Source: S-file) ■ Photos : Sing Tao, Internet, Reuters ■ Globalisation ■ Modern China ■ Public Health ■ Hong Kong Today ■ Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships ■ Energy, Technology & the Environment This article enables students to: 1. understand the impact of science and technology on public health and the environment, and the implications of this; 2. be aware of the social, cultural and moral issues related to science, technology and the environment; and be able to make judgments and informed decisions on them. Vocabulary beneficence (n) 善行 critical (adj) 危殆的 proposition (n) 建議 reimburse (v) 補償 subsidy (n) 補助金 exemption (n) 豁免 ethics (n) 道德規範 transaction (n) 交易 Read the story online http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s Click"Liberal studies" Shortage of Transplantable Organs international transplant travel education and promotion stronger legal enforcement solutions problems: • health risk • human trafficking • exploiting the poor • smuggling system: •reimbursed vs. unconditional • opt-in vs. opt-out dispute: • morally suspect • body autonomy • righteous? solutions question: black market trade encouraging donation legalising organ trade? Public Hygiene Public Hygiene Hong Kong Today Globalisation • moral consideration • rights vs. responsibilities • influence of organ transplant on how the public interprets incurable diseases • legislation against the sale of organs • donation trend • social responsibilities • transplant travel spreading diseases to other countries? • exploiting poor countries? Moral issues with organ donation Organ shortages have made organ donations more in demand and organ transactions possible. Shifting ethics has caused a debate over fi nancial reimbursement for donors and the sale of organs used in transplants A LIFE taken in an accident and reborn in a critical patient is certainly the beautiful side of organ donation. But high organ demand has invited morally suspect propositions. Organ shortage, as a global matter, must be dealt with urgently; a critically ill patient dies because they are waiting for an organ rather than because they did not receive the right medical treatment. Now, some countries are considering offering financial incentives on top of the increasingly common ‘opt- out’ donation system. Some even suggest legalising the trading of organs in order to discourage the existing black market. An organ donation card. An organ donation promotion campaign held in Causeway Bay.
Transcript of Text : Nieve Wong (Source: S- le) Photos : Sing Tao ...
1. What do you think about the opt-in
organ donation system in HK?
2. Do you think it is a personal decision
whether to sell one’s organ?
http://www.organdonation.gov.hk/
h t t p : / / w w w. i n fo . g ov. h k / g i a /
general/201206/27/P201206270484.
htm
http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/
home.htm
Critical questions
References
A sizable discrepancy between the
supply and demand of transplantable
organs has led to more people
cons ide r ing the mora l l y dub ious
reimbursement of donation and organ
trade.
AA
s
Key ideas
The CODR was established by the
Department of Health in November
2008 to make it easier for prospective
donors to voluntarily register their wish to
donate organs after death, and for such a
wish to be more reliably recorded. CODR
has reached 100,000 entries since its
establishment.
T
D
Did you know?
Reimbursed donation vs unconditional donation
Legalisation of organ trade
CURRENT organ supply is distinguished by two practices: opt-in and opt-out. The opt-in policy requires a potential donor to sign up and self-select the services they wish to provide. It is a permission-based concept. The opt-out policy presumes that all individuals would consent to donating their organs unless otherwise informed.
HK adopts the opt-in systemIN Hong Kong, all transplanted organs are from voluntary sources. People who intend to donate their organs have to carry a completed organ donation card with them, or register with the Centralised Organ Donation Register (CODR) of the Department of Health (DH) through the internet or by mail. Countries using the opt-in system include Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and many other East Asian countries.
European countries favour the opt-out systemSWITZERLAND, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Singapore are among the some 20 countries that favour the opt-out system. Though a written statement of refusal to the removal of organs is available, it is still up to the decision of the family of the presumed donor. The opt-out system is becoming popular around the world. New York and Illinois in the US have already switched to opt-out, while the British and Malaysian governments are considering it.
organsTrading REGULATIONS concerning organ transaction are enforced strictly in most
countries in response to the growth of black market trading to meet the organ shortage. In Hong Kong, the Human Organ Transplant Ordinance aims to prohibit commercial dealings in human organs for transplantation, restrict the transplanting of organs between living persons and the transplanting of imported human organs. But the US National Organ Transplant Act revised in 1987 has no restriction on the trading of organs of living donors. Iran is currently the only country to legalise organ (mainly kidneys) trade.
However, transplantable organs at emergency levels and problems brought by the black market will continue to force people to consider making such trade legal. A scholar from the University
of Dundee, UK, previously posted his suggestions on the legislation and pricing of organ trading online, saying people should be allowed
to offer their kidney at a fixed price of 28,000 pounds (HK$346,961). He said it could help people in debt, save
lives, and safeguard the health of both organ givers and takers by eliminating possible exploitation in illegal deals.
How abou t t he f i nanc ia l ly incapable? Will their right to live be
exploited? When beneficence becomes a business opportunity, the poor are likely to be pushed out. This is a problem foreseen with legalising organ trading. But looking at numerous desperate patients turning to risky black market organs to survive, few would still claim to hold the moral high ground. THERE is quite a market for organ transplantation. In late August 2012, there were
1,842 patients lining up for kidneys in Hong Kong with an average of only 64 kidney transplantation surgeries carried out each year over the past fi ve years. This supply-demand confl ict is just as serious in the US. The average waiting list for a new kidney is around eight years. Forty-six percent of 60-year-olds in the queue died before they received one. Organ shortage has become so pressing that governments are now more inclined to reimburse donations.
Financial incentives guarantee feedback. In Taiwan, donors’ families get subsidised for funeral expenses: NT$50,000 (HK$13,245) is offered for a cornea donation and NT$100,000 (HK$26,490) for an organ donation. Hospitals and local organisations also give donors’ death subsidies.
While some are concerned with the moral implications of donors or their families entering a deal to be given money in exchange for organs, some hold the view that a moderate subsidy can promote the spirit of giving, honour the donor and support the family. In fact, the US has been looking into the possibilities of issuing a medal of honour, a tax loan and tax exemption as forms of reimbursement. Last month, the British medial ethics think-tank, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, proposed distributing a death subsidy of 1,500 to 5,000 pounds (HK$18,587 to 61,957) to an organ donor, amid a growing trend towards reimbursed donations.
Diseases of affl uence
ACCORDING to the UK newspaper the Daily Mail, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) warned that the black market is on the rise again thanks to diseases of
affl uence. The UN public health body estimates that 10,000 organs are now traded
every year, with fi gures soaring off the back of a huge rise in black market kidney
transplants. With kidneys believed to make up 75 percent of the black market in
organs, experts believe the rise of diseases of affluence such as diabetes, high
blood pressure and heart problems is spurring the trade.
Wealthy patients are paying up to 128,500 pounds (HK$1,592,310) for a
kidney to gangs, often in China, India and Pakistan, who harvest the organs
from desperate people for as little as 3,200 pounds (HK$39,652). The WHO does
not know how many of the 106,879 known transplant operations in 2010 were
performed with illegally harvested organs, but Dr Luc Noel, a WHO offi cial, believes
the fi gure could be as high as 10 percent.
KK
Opt-in vs opt-out
6 November 2012Tuesday
E06-07 Liberal Studies ■ Text : Nieve Wong (Source: S-fi le) ■ Photos : Sing Tao, Internet, Reuters
■ Globalisation
■ Modern China
■ Public Health
■ Hong Kong Today■ Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships
■ Energy, Technology & the Environment
This article enables students to:1. understand the impact of science and technology on public health and the
environment, and the implications of this;
2. be aware of the social, cultural and moral issues related to science, technology and the environment; and be able to make judgments and informed decisions on them.
Vocabulary beneficence (n) 善行critical (adj) 危殆的 proposition (n) 建議 reimburse (v) 補償 subsidy (n) 補助金 exemption (n) 豁免ethics (n) 道德規範transaction (n) 交易
Read the story online
http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s
Click"Liberal studies"
Shortage of Transplantable Organs
international transplant travel
education and promotion
stronger legal enforcement
solutions problems: • health risk• human traffi cking • exploiting the poor• smugglingsystem:
• reimbursed vs. unconditional
• opt-in vs. opt-out
dispute: • morally suspect• body autonomy• righteous?
solutions question: black market trade
encouraging donation
legalising organ trade?
Public Hygiene
Public Hygiene
Hong Kong TodayGlobalisation
• moral consideration• rights vs. responsibilities
• infl uence of organ transplant on how the public interprets incurable diseases
• legislation against the sale of organs
• donation trend• social responsibilities
• transplant travel spreading diseases to other countries?
• exploiting poor countries?
Moral issues with organ donation
Organ shortages have made organ donations more in demand and organ transactions possible. Shifting ethics has caused a debate over fi nancial reimbursement for donors and the sale of organs used in transplants
ALIFE taken in an accident and reborn in a critical patient is certainly the beautiful side of organ donation. But high organ demand has invited morally suspect propositions.
Organ shortage, as a global matter, must be dealt with urgently; a critically ill patient dies because they are waiting for an organ rather than because they did not receive the right medical treatment. Now, some countries are considering offering fi nancial incentives on top of the increasingly common ‘opt-out’ donation system. Some even suggest legalising the trading of organs in order to discourage the existing black market.
An organ donation card.
An organ donation promotion campaign held in Causeway Bay.
