Singapore’s Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) which aims to make organ donation more efficient to save lives, presumes that silence – not registering an objection – means tacit consent to organ donation at death. This means that most of us would be registered donors should any unfortunate circumstances befall us. However feedback from doctors indicate that many of us are not aware of this or have not expressed our desire to be organ donors (or lack thereof) to our loved ones, saddling them with doubt in our preferences after we have departed.
NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Assistant Professors Voo Teck Chuan and Shahla Siddiqui explain more about the system implemented here, and around the world, and their suggestions on what can be done to raise awareness for human organ transplants in Singapore to help manage the emotions and wishes of the bereaved families before they are faced with the decisions their loved ones have made. They encouraged people to communicate their wishes and consent on organ donation with their families and loved ones to ease them of the burden of uncertainty in the case of an untimely demise.
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