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.