Influenza A (H1N1)

The recent outbreak of the formerly known as H1N1 virus (formerly known as Swine Flu), has brought chaos to the world and every country is doing what it can to contain the virus and prevent spreading.

In Asia, we have faced two major viruses over these few years, the bird flu and SARS, and various countries are taking steps to prevent H1N1 from entering. Singapore had set up thermal scanners to scan anyone with a high temperature. . Those that have flu-like symtoms and had traveled to infected countries within seven days will be tested. Samples will be taken and tested in the laboratory for H1N1. People returning from H1N1 infected countries need to take LOA and be home quarantined for a week.

However, in many cases, people still get infected with the virus. This shows an ineffectiveness of the measures taken. Although they may already bbe taking the best measures, it is clearly not enough. We are not really as prepared for the flu as we thought and we need to take more precautions to prevent other viruses from spreading into Singapore in the future. However, I understand that Singapore, having a small and open economy, will be very hard to prevent the virus from spreading to the people. We had learned from previous experiences to react fast, but due to a lack of knowledge of the flu, we are unable to stop it effectively.For people that need to travel abroad due to various reasons, there is a huge inconvenience caused.

There is definitely not a foolproof method to completely stop the outbreak of a pandemic, as the virus may already be spreading before the symptoms are shown. The measures taken before are inadequate. The spreading of the virus will be much more slower if more measures are taken. However, there is nothing that we can do now besides having more preparations, in case the virus starts to mutate.

Advanced Medical Directive Act

The Advanced Medical Directive Act (AMD) is a document that you sign with the doctor, asking them not to use life-sustaining equipment in the event that you're terminally ill or in a coma.

This act enable people to decide on how their body will be treated when it is impossible recover again. It's generally known as a kind of act that ends the patient's sufferings, if any, that need to be taken to sustain their lives.

The AMD is different from euthanasia to some extent. Euthanasia is where the patient actively takes action to end his own life, often painlessly, while AMD serve the purpose of not sustaining the patient's life, having it end when it is time to. Euthanasia is a direct approach to end life, while AMD do it passively by stopping the aids to prolong people's live but not ending one's live in a faster way.

However, like euthanasia, the AMD also faces ethical issues. The family of the person may not agree with the choice, and insist on letting him live, in hope of a chance to heal him. Some feels that it is very unfair for the family members to suffer hardship while the patient passes to the other world, and taken this as a selfish act. However, is it considered selfish too for the family to hold the patient in our world for the famiy's own benefits, while making the patient suffer even more?

Modern technology in hospitals can only prolong the life, but it does not solve the problem. It cannot stop one from dying. Being terminally ill, the patient have to die one day as long as the illness is not cured. Some argues that we should cherish every second of our life, but in the case of being terminally ill until you are considering AMD, you often don't really get to do so. It will only add to your suffering to see your family members tearing due to your own sufferings.

I believe that the AMD can be fine-tuned to prevent abuse. The hospital should make sure that the patient had a serious discussion with the family members and need to have the family member coming into consent for the patient to sign the AMD. Knowing the reason for signing AMD is important to prevent abuse. This ensures that the family members' feelings are taken into account. Similarly, if the family thinks that the patient could not recover and decides to end his suffering, they should be given the right to sign the AMD too provided all of the members agree.

Human Organ Transplant Act

HOTA refers to the act where human organs are removed from the dead body to transplant to a living human that needs the organ. It involves Singaporeans and PR that is aged between 20 and 60 and is generally viewed as a policy that is able to save human lives. Yes, it is true that HOTA managed to save a lot of people's life, however, there are also other issues concerning HOTA.

HOTA will come in after a body is certified as being dead. Scientifically, it will be a waste of opportunities and "resources" if we left the organs in the dead body when it can be used to save more lives, however, ethical concerns are generally the more important issue against HOTA. I do not think it is viable for us to harvest other's organs without consent. It is very unethical for us to just "cut off" one's organs and let it be "used" in another person's body without permission, this is equal to stealing. Some says that harvesting organs doesn't affect the dead person, and can save a life, but what about the person's family?

What's happening now is one must opt out from HOTA for him/herself, and one's family cannot opt out on one's behalf if one did not do that before he/she is dead. This means that if one experiences sudden death, he/she will not be able to say "no" to HOTA. According to the policy, if you opt out of HOTA, you will receive lower priority on the organ transplant waiting list if you ever need a transplant. I think that it's not right to discredit those that opted out and give priority to those working classes if they ever need a transplant. This is a rather unfair treatment.

I think that this Act can be amended. The family of the dead should be given the ability to opt one out from HOTA if he dies a sudden death. This is necessary and we need to respect the family's decision as some of them did this for religious reasons. Some will think that this disturbs the spirit of the dead, and hence refuse to doit. Hence, I think that we must obtain the permissions of all the deceased next of kin before HOTA can be implemented.