THE number of organs available for transplant looks set to increase with two new initiatives announced in Parliament yesterday.
The first change will be to the Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota). Currently, organs cannot be taken from someone who is over 60 years old when he dies.
That will change, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed to MPs when responding to questions from Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) and Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio GRC).
The age limit 'is an arbitrary limit and has unnecessarily put many organs to waste', he said.
Under Hota, the kidneys, livers, corneas and hearts of Singaporeans and permanent residents who die aged 21 to 60 can be automatically taken for transplant - unless these individuals had explicitly objected to this earlier.
The cap on taking organs only from those up to the age of 60 was set by lawmakers who chose to be conservative when drawing up the 1987 law, Mr Khaw said.
Many countries - including Spain which has one of the world's highest transplant rates - do not set such age limits.
Whether an organ was suitable should depend on its condition, as assessed by a transplant doctor, rather than the age of the donor, he added.
The Act may also be amended to enable what Mr Khaw described as 'pair-matched donations', which already takes place in some American and European hospitals, but not yet in Singapore.
'This means matching a donor whose tissue is incompatible with the intended patient, with another pair or pairs in a similar situation,' he explained.
To facilitate this, a live-donor registry will need to be set up, and the Act may need to be amended to provide legal backing for this.
The Health Ministry hopes to implement these changes over the next year.
The changes will raise the proportion of patients here who receive kidney transplants from today's 50 per cent to 70 per cent within 10 years.
The number of kidney donations has already been rising in tandem with that of kidney transplants from living donors who are relatives or have relationships with the recipients.
Currently, 30 of the 80 annual kidney transplants done here are from such living donors.
Kidney donations are also expected to increase further from next month, when Hota is extended to cover Muslims.
Muslims were previously not automatically included due to religious considerations that have since evolved.
In the last three years, 228 kidneys, 33 livers, 271 corneas and 14 hearts were transplanted.
About one in three of the kidney and liver transplants was from living donors.
Currently, 563 people are still waiting for new kidneys, nine for new livers, 25 for new corneas, and three for new hearts.
This story was first published in The Straits Times on July 22, 2008.
