A DONOR Care Registry has been set up to monitor the health of living donors, as part of move to strengthen donor welfare and long-term medical follow-up.
It is part of the Ministry of Health's efforts to promote organ donations by living donors to significantly reduce the waiting list for an organ.
This follows the amendments to the Human and Organ Transplant Act (Hota) last November to increase the upper age limit for deceased donation, which has been 'well received by the public,' said the Health Ministry's director of medical services Professor K Satku at the National Kidney Foundation's 41st anniversary celebration on Monday.
Since last November, only 2,500, or 0.5 per cent of those aged 60 years and older have chosen to opt out of Hota. In the last five months, eight patients have already benefitted from donations from older deceased donors.
'In the years ahead, we will continue to promote the deceased donation programme' and encourage more living donations to 'strive towards self-sufficiency in transplantation,' said Prof. Satku.
[SOURCE: http://www.straitstimes.com]
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