Singapore 'may legalise organ swaps'
Singapore may legalise the trade in human kidneys for transplants, its health minister said today.
The Health Ministry is considering paying unrelated donors to boost the supply of organs, Khaw Boon Wan said.
“We should not reject any idea just because it is radical or controversial,” Khaw said. “We may be able to find an acceptable way to allow a meaningful compensation for some living, unrelated kidney donors, without breaching ethical principles or hurting the sensitivities of others.”
Khaw said the ministry would review possible changes to current legislation to allow payments for donations from third parties such as those from the charity and religious sectors.
Under the proposal, which would need to be approved by Parliament to become law, patients would also get help in finding donors.
“There are desperate patients out there wishing to live and desperately poor people willing to exchange a kidney for a hopefully improved life,” he said. “Criminalising organ trading does not eliminate it ... it merely breeds a black market.”
Khaw also said the Health Ministry would push to amend existing laws on organ transplants to remove an age limit on deceased donors, currently set at 60 years, because “the suitability of the organ depends on its condition rather than the age of the donor”.
The two initiatives should enable Singapore to carry out 70% of the kidney transplants needed every year – up from 50% currently, the minister said.
Khaw’s comments follow the cases of two Indonesian men who were jailed and fined by a Singapore court earlier this month after being convicted of agreeing to sell their kidneys to two patients.
Selling or buying organs or blood is illegal in Singapore, as in many other countries, and carries a penalty of up to 12 months’ jail.
