Organ transplant rates

21 October 2013

Question No. 1521

Name of Person: Mr Seah Kian Peng

Question

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether our organ transplant rates have increased in the last 10 years; (b) if not, what is the reason; (c) how does Singapore's organ transplant rate compare with those of other countries; and (d) how much money has the Ministry allocated for public education on organ transplantation since 2004, as compared to the allocation before 2004.

Answer

1.                 The organ transplant rate of Singapore was about 35 per million population (pmp) in 2004. The rate was about the same at 34 pmp in 2012, lower compared to Hong Kong (at 63 pmp), Republic of Korea (at 72 pmp) and Australia (at 151pmp).

2.                 The main reasons for the low organ transplant rates are the low numbers of available transplantable organs from the small pool of suitable brain dead donors in the intensive care units as well as the low numbers of living organ donations in Singapore.

3.                 Over the past decade, MOH has ramped up public education to raise awareness on how organ donations under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) help to save lives. The budget for public education increased from about $120K to about $1 million per year over the last 10 years, with more platforms being used to reach out to more Singaporeans.  

4.                 In 2008, the Ministry launched the “Live On” campaign to raise public awareness about organ transplant. The campaign, lasting 3 years, adopted a creative approach of analogizing a human organ to a pair of treasured jeans that is long-lasting and passed on, just as organ donation is a gift to help someone live on. The co-ordinated campaign leveraged on print, broadcast, online, mailers to 21-year olds and outdoor channels to further spread this message.

5.                 Similarly, MOH has planned a series of measures in the next two years to improve the organ transplantation rates for both deceased as well as living organ donors.  We hope to leverage on the higher awareness of HOTA over the years to educate the public about how they can help others live productive lives by allowing their organs to be used should they become brain dead or by pledging their organs for the purposes of transplant, education or research after they pass away under the Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act (MTERA). Through an integrated campaign, we hope to highlight the life-transforming benefits to organ transplant recipients.  We will also leverage on social media for better outreach to the younger generation.

6.                 We will also continue to work with physicians to encourage living donations.