<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Publicity blitz for changes to Hota
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Reimbursement for some kidney donors among amendments </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->MORE people will be eligible to donate their organs and living donors will be reimbursed when the changes to the Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota) take effect in November.
The Health Ministry (MOH) is kicking off a publicity blitz next month through the mass media to help the public understand the changes.
Some of the amendments, including lifting the age limit for cadaveric donors and higher penalties for illegal organ trading, were passed by Parliament in March.
The removal of an age cap for cadaveric donors will widen the potential pool of organs to those beyond the current legal age group of 21 to 60.
Following examples of other countries which do not set an upper age limit for such organ donation, the cap of 60 years will be removed, the MOH said.
This move is expected to add some 10 to 12 donors each year which, in turn, can benefit 70 more patients.
All Singapore citizens and permanent residents above 21 years old and of sound mind will be included in Hota, unless they opt out.
The upper age limit of 60 for those on the waiting list for a kidney transplant has also been removed.
Another change taking effect involves paired matching, where pairs of kidney patients and their living donors - whose organs may be incompatible with their intended recipients - can seek a suitable match.
The most contentious change, which sparked massive debate in Parliament, was the issue of giving reimbursements to living kidney donors.
Those who argued against it were worried that the lack of detail in the legislation would make it open to abuse. For example, there were the problems of gauging if a donor's motivation was altruistic and not profit-driven, and how the reimbursement would be quantified.
But the Bill was eventually passed with four MPs abstaining from the vote and only one saying 'no'.
The amended Hota will allow living donors to be paid, but only for the purpose of reimbursing or offsetting the expenses that may be incurred as a result of the organ donation. This includes costs of health checks, laboratory tests, surgery and hospitalisation, follow-up visits and loss of income due to the donation.
To prevent exploitation of donors and recipients, penalties for organ trading were also raised. Any person involved in the buying or selling of organs can be fined a maximum of $100,000 or jailed a maximum of 10 years, or both.
As part of the publicity outreach, MOH will send an information booklet with frequently asked questions in the four official languages to all households.
[email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Reimbursement for some kidney donors among amendments </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->MORE people will be eligible to donate their organs and living donors will be reimbursed when the changes to the Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota) take effect in November.
The Health Ministry (MOH) is kicking off a publicity blitz next month through the mass media to help the public understand the changes.
Some of the amendments, including lifting the age limit for cadaveric donors and higher penalties for illegal organ trading, were passed by Parliament in March.
The removal of an age cap for cadaveric donors will widen the potential pool of organs to those beyond the current legal age group of 21 to 60.
Following examples of other countries which do not set an upper age limit for such organ donation, the cap of 60 years will be removed, the MOH said.
This move is expected to add some 10 to 12 donors each year which, in turn, can benefit 70 more patients.
All Singapore citizens and permanent residents above 21 years old and of sound mind will be included in Hota, unless they opt out.
The upper age limit of 60 for those on the waiting list for a kidney transplant has also been removed.
Another change taking effect involves paired matching, where pairs of kidney patients and their living donors - whose organs may be incompatible with their intended recipients - can seek a suitable match.
The most contentious change, which sparked massive debate in Parliament, was the issue of giving reimbursements to living kidney donors.
Those who argued against it were worried that the lack of detail in the legislation would make it open to abuse. For example, there were the problems of gauging if a donor's motivation was altruistic and not profit-driven, and how the reimbursement would be quantified.
But the Bill was eventually passed with four MPs abstaining from the vote and only one saying 'no'.
The amended Hota will allow living donors to be paid, but only for the purpose of reimbursing or offsetting the expenses that may be incurred as a result of the organ donation. This includes costs of health checks, laboratory tests, surgery and hospitalisation, follow-up visits and loss of income due to the donation.
To prevent exploitation of donors and recipients, penalties for organ trading were also raised. Any person involved in the buying or selling of organs can be fined a maximum of $100,000 or jailed a maximum of 10 years, or both.
As part of the publicity outreach, MOH will send an information booklet with frequently asked questions in the four official languages to all households.
[email protected]
