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Khaw Boon Wan makes home visit to kidney patient in Hougang
•December 7, 2009
Health Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan made a visit to the home of a kidney patient in Hougang last Sunday and shared his experience with Singaporeans on his blog.
The patient Mrs Teo who lived in Hougang, was born with only one kidney and had to be put on dialysis when it started to fail.
His husband offered her his kidney and fortunately his was a perfect match. Following the successful transplant at NUH, Mr Teo’s medical expenses are now covered by the NKF Kidney Live Donor Support Programme.
The programme which was introduced lately on 1 November this year will also cover potential loss of income or up to S$5,000, whichever is lower; hospitalisation and surgical insurance premiums.
Mrs Teo now has to take immunosuppressants drugs daily in large quantities to prevent her body from rejecting the donor’s kidney.
Mr Khaw assured her the government will assist them in whatever ways it can:
“I assured them that they should just focus on their recovery and leave such financing matters to NUH and NKF. In Singapore, the needy will always be helped. For those who try to help themselves, like the Teo family, the Government assistance will definitely be there, to close any missing gap,” he wrote.
Mr Khaw left the session feeling “much encouraged and uplifted by their spirit and positive attitude to life.” and pleased about the amendments made to the Human Organ Transpart Act (HOTA) which was spear-headed by him.
“I left, happy with the HOTA amendments I helped to craft which has enabled patients and VWOs, like the NKF, to help live donors fulfill through their acts of love without financial worries. Mr and Mrs Teo are the first couple benefitting from the NKF Live Donor Welfare Scheme; I am sure they will not be the only one,” he added.
Under the amended HOTA, organ recipients may have to compensate living donors for costs incurred as a result of the transplant.
The changes to HOTA will not only widen the pool of organs available, but also crack down on illegal organ trading.
The initiative to do so was triggered by the controversial case of retail magnate Tang Wee Sung, who was sentenced to one day in prison of trying to buy a kidney from an Indonesian man.
HOTA allows for the organs (kidney, liver, heart and cornea) of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents to be donated in the event of death, for the purpose of transplantation only.
All Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents 21 years old and above, and are of sound mind, are included under HOTA automatically unless they opt out by completing a form and sending it back to the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU).
On a separate note, Mr Khaw who has become a regular blogger said in his latest blog posting yesterday he is ’studying the idea’ of allowing Medisave to be used for health screenings.
He also laid out the priorities of his ministry next year, that is to focus on prevention and getting more Singaporeans to embrace a healthy lifestyle.
Read Mr Khaw’s original article here.
Khaw Boon Wan makes home visit to kidney patient in Hougang
•December 7, 2009
Health Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan made a visit to the home of a kidney patient in Hougang last Sunday and shared his experience with Singaporeans on his blog.
The patient Mrs Teo who lived in Hougang, was born with only one kidney and had to be put on dialysis when it started to fail.
His husband offered her his kidney and fortunately his was a perfect match. Following the successful transplant at NUH, Mr Teo’s medical expenses are now covered by the NKF Kidney Live Donor Support Programme.
The programme which was introduced lately on 1 November this year will also cover potential loss of income or up to S$5,000, whichever is lower; hospitalisation and surgical insurance premiums.
Mrs Teo now has to take immunosuppressants drugs daily in large quantities to prevent her body from rejecting the donor’s kidney.
Mr Khaw assured her the government will assist them in whatever ways it can:
“I assured them that they should just focus on their recovery and leave such financing matters to NUH and NKF. In Singapore, the needy will always be helped. For those who try to help themselves, like the Teo family, the Government assistance will definitely be there, to close any missing gap,” he wrote.
Mr Khaw left the session feeling “much encouraged and uplifted by their spirit and positive attitude to life.” and pleased about the amendments made to the Human Organ Transpart Act (HOTA) which was spear-headed by him.
“I left, happy with the HOTA amendments I helped to craft which has enabled patients and VWOs, like the NKF, to help live donors fulfill through their acts of love without financial worries. Mr and Mrs Teo are the first couple benefitting from the NKF Live Donor Welfare Scheme; I am sure they will not be the only one,” he added.
Under the amended HOTA, organ recipients may have to compensate living donors for costs incurred as a result of the transplant.
The changes to HOTA will not only widen the pool of organs available, but also crack down on illegal organ trading.
The initiative to do so was triggered by the controversial case of retail magnate Tang Wee Sung, who was sentenced to one day in prison of trying to buy a kidney from an Indonesian man.
HOTA allows for the organs (kidney, liver, heart and cornea) of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents to be donated in the event of death, for the purpose of transplantation only.
All Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents 21 years old and above, and are of sound mind, are included under HOTA automatically unless they opt out by completing a form and sending it back to the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU).
On a separate note, Mr Khaw who has become a regular blogger said in his latest blog posting yesterday he is ’studying the idea’ of allowing Medisave to be used for health screenings.
He also laid out the priorities of his ministry next year, that is to focus on prevention and getting more Singaporeans to embrace a healthy lifestyle.
Read Mr Khaw’s original article here.
