The “presumed consent” system for organ donation in which individuals are automatically considered donors after death unless they choose to opt out of the system by registration has been adopted in several countries. Seeing an acute shortage of organs in Hong Kong, some people propose that such system should also be adopted in Hong Kong.
Write a letter to the SCMP, stating the reasons for the negative response to organ donation and sharing your views on the above proposal.
Organ Donation
Dear Editor,
Nowadays, there is an acute shortage of organs worldwide. And especially in Hong Kong, many patients are in urgent need of organ transplants but are left in despair. In some other countries, there is the presumed consent system for organ donation such that everyone is automatically considered donors after death unless they choose to opt out of the system by registration. However, this system has not been adopted in Hong Kong. Hongkongers, obviously, show relatively negative response to organ donation, and the reasons of which involve various aspects.
In terms of people’s belief, Hong Kong old people are under great influence of traditional Chinese values. They believe that a person must have his dead body preserved complete in order to get into the cycle of reincarnation to be human again. Taking organs away from a corpse thus disgusts the relatives as well as people around. Traditional Chinese people also respect and honor dead people. Then with the belief that taking organs from dead people is disturbing the souls of the deceased and is disrespectful, Hong Kong people surely express opposition to organ donation.
Besides general belief, Hong Kong people may have rather weak social awareness and behave rather selfishly. There is a famous Chinese saying ‘For matters unrelated to me, I will not care about them at all’, which explicitly shows the lack of sense of mutual help. The problem of selfishness may be less serious in the younger generation, but for the elderly who experienced the poor times with lack of resources, it is understandable that they feel reluctant to be organ donors to help some unknown needy people.
Another reason concerns the education and promotion in society. There is inadequate information publicized to demonstrate the urgent needs of the patients so the public may not respond so actively. Besides, the younger generation has not been well educated about the appropriate social awareness and the present great needs of organs. All of these create a population which does not care about organ donation so much. Along with other considerations, negative response is predictable.
With these reasons being prevalent in Hong Kong, I really think that the ‘presumed consent’ organ donation system should be adopted.
Firstly, undoubtedly, this system will increase the number of organs available, without forcing people into organ donation. All this system does is making the choice of organ donation easier by presuming everyone approves of the donation unless one shows otherwise clearly. Most likely it can make people without strong preference donate their organs after death, however, those who strongly disagree with organ donation can still have their own decisions.
Apart from that, some people may say that someone may not have the chance to opt out of the system before he dies. But in fact, Hong Kong is now facing a serious shortage of organ donation, which is a matter of life and death for the patients in need. So it is high time Hong Kong took initiative to boost the incentive of organ donation. Stepping into the 21st century, old beliefs should be changed and the importance of mutual help recognized. For those who do not register to opt out of the system in time, it is sensible to interpret that they do not oppose the scheme so much. In view of the desperate needs of organs, with enough freedom of choice, the system is believed to balance between medical needs and individual choice.
In conclusion, people generally disagree with organ donation due to old Chinese values, selfishness and ignorance of its importance. It is crucial for the ‘presumed consent’ system to be adopted, so that people’s freedom is preserved while the call for organ can be better answered.
Yours faithfully
Chris Wong