Letter to the editor

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It is saddening to hear about the recent death of a 19-year-old girl who waited for a double-lung donation but in vain. In fact, many sick people have no choice but to wait to die due to general apathy towards organ donation in the city. Write an article / a letter to the editor explaining the phenomenon and suggesting feasible measures to turn the situation around.

 

Dear Editor,

 

I am writing to express my concern towards the low organ donation rate in our city. The recent death of a 19-year-old girl who waited for a double-lung donation has dismayed people from society and aroused public concerns. In fact, there are many similar cases every day due to the general apathy towards organ donation in the city.

 

The traditional Chinese belief that people hold is a main reason for the phenomenon. The elder generation considers the action of taking away organs from the deceased as desecrating a corpse, which is disrespectful. What they insist is to keep the dead bodies intact. Therefore, even if the dead ones have volunteered to be an organ donor, their families still refuse to make the donation. The traditional perception is indeed rather deep-rooted and cannot be changed swiftly and it is why our city has an extremely low organ donation rate.

 

The low awareness of the general public should be taken into account, too. The online centralized organ donation register system has been established for over a decade. However, there are still less than 2 per cent of local citizens who have registered. Many people know little about the registration and this puts a halt to those who want to offer their helping hands. Meanwhile, many citizens even have limited understanding about the donation. Some even have no idea about what body tissues can be donated.

 

The traditional beliefs, together with the limited awareness of the general public, have led to such shameful organ donation rate. The worrying, saddening and disappointing phenomenon will have a slim chance to be turned around unless the government spares no effort to promote the importance of organ donation.

 

The presumed-consent scheme should be implemented. Once it is enforced, all local citizens will be made potential donors if they do not opt out. This will definitely bring a surge in organ supply so that more people in need can be ‘saved’. There are other countries which have implemented the same scheme. For example, in Singapore, there has been a 10-fold in the number of organ transplant since the scheme was implemented in 2009. It is believed that the scheme will be able to bring similar positive effects on our society.

 

Besides, education is of paramount importance. The Department of Health should hold more seminars in schools so that teenagers can have a better overall concept about organ donation. Also, teenagers can accept new ideas easily. Therefore, the donation rate will possibly increase as their mindsets are changed. The government should make more advertisements on TV and on radio broadcast so as to educate the public about the meaning and significance of organ donation.

 

It is understandable that people do not want to lose anything of the loved ones even if they are dead. However, people have to think deeper. When their loved ones are burned, their bodies will finally turn into ashes. Yet, donating the organs of the deceased can also mean the continuity of their lives. Viewing the action in another way round can even ease the pain of losing their family members. It is up to the government to take the initiatives to change people’s mindset or else the paramedics will continue meeting with resistance when they try to harvest the organs from those who have registered to be an organ donor. Hopefully, similar cases like the unfortunate 19-year-old girl’s death will not be heard again.

 

Yours faithfully,

Chris Wong

Chris Wong

 

Lam Oi Yi Jasmine

2015-16 6E