Hong Kong civil service chief appeals to staff to sign up as organ donors and give the gift of life
- Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung asks 173,000 public sector staff to join organ donor register
- Letter to staff comes after four men charged with filing donor register withdrawals in names of other people without consent
Hong Kong authorities have appealed to more than 173,000 civil servants to sign up as organ donors after a surge in withdrawals from the register which the city leader said was a bid to “sabotage” the system.
Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan appealed in a letter to government staff on Wednesday to register with the Centralised Organ Donation Register and to tell their families of their decision.
Officials said among the 5,785 withdrawal applications received over the last few months, more than 2,900 were found to be invalid as they were filed by people not on the register.
Police have arrested four men for filing some withdrawal applications in the names of other people without consent.
Yeung said in the letter, seen by the Post: “Over 2,000 patients and their families are waiting for organ donation every day in Hong Kong. Regretfully, many patients passed away before getting the right organ match and transplant.
“It is therefore very important to secure active support for organ donation from the community at large with a view to bringing these patients the hope of a new life.
“I earnestly invite colleagues to respond to the appeal by signing up at the Centralised Organ Donation Register and making known your wish to your family.”
She also told civil service staff when she was at the then Health, Welfare and Food Bureau more than a decade ago she was “deeply moved” by a grief-stricken mother’s decision to donate her son’s organs after he was killed in a traffic accident.
“While the success rate for organ transplants is very high in Hong Kong, we need to have such selfless and compassionate donors and family members in order to benefit the patients in need,” Yeung wrote.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said during an event at the Legislative Council on Wednesday that many on the transplant waiting list were on the border between life and death.
He added he was distressed to see “a very small” number of people interfere with the organ donation register.
About 5 per cent of Hong Kong’s 7.4 million population – 370,000 people – have registered as donors and Lo said there was room for improvement.
Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen added that spreading rumours about the organ donation programme was an act that displayed “ulterior motives and no conscience”.
The four arrested in connection with the withdrawals, aged between 19 and 47, are alleged to have cancelled registrations, including those of government officials, lawmakers, artists and people that had already died.
The force said at the time it had not ruled out further arrests.
He added the behaviour reminded him of events during the 2019 anti-government protests and the city’s “colour revolution”.
“We must condemn these shameless acts. The government will also pursue their legal responsibilities,” Lee said.
Lee noted the number of people signed up as donors had increased steadily since the register was set up in 2008. There were 45,000 people registered in 2009.
The city at present has an “opt in” system for donations, where people must consent to allow their organs to be used after their death.
Some countries, such as Singapore and Austria, use an “opt out” system, where agreement is assumed unless the individual has specified otherwise.
