NKF sets aside S$10m to help needy kidney donors
By Claire Huang, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 31 October 2009 2105 hrs

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SINGAPORE: From November 1, needy kidney donors can apply for financial help to offset post-transplant medical costs.

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has set aside S$10m for its Live Donor Support Programme. The initiative follows changes to the Human Organ Transplant Act or HOTA.

Dialysis is not a long-term solution to kidney failure. To encourage more people to donate their kidneys, the NKF will roll out a support programme for needy donors. Under the initiative, Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who pass the NKF means test can apply for funding.

NKF chairman, Gerard Ee, said: "You should not be deterred from being a potential donor, just because you're not rich. So, for those who can pass the NKF means test, this scheme is out there to help them.

"For example, after the operations, the physicians in the restructured hospitals will refer them (donors) for regular checkups. We will pay for that so that they're not out of pocket."

The fund under the NKF Kidney Live Donor Support Programme also covers potential loss of income or up to S$5,000, whichever is lower; hospitalisation and surgical insurance premiums, which will be capped at CPF Basic MediShield amounts; and the premiums for a new insurance plan called the Group Living Policy which is a joint initiative between NKF and NTUC Income.

Mr Ee said the purpose of the Group Living Policy is to ensure the donor has insurance cover in case he/she falls sick because of the organ donation. The plan covers up to S$100,000. It covers the donor against death, total and permanent disability, and 30 critical illnesses including stroke and blindness.

Under the amended HOTA, organ recipients may have to compensate living donors for costs incurred as a result of the transplant. The Health Ministry says that to safeguard donor interests, the Transplant Ethics Committee will consider factors such as whether the transplant is ethical or if the donor profits from giving up his organ.

Patients Channel NewsAsia spoke to said the changes to HOTA will not only widen the pool of organs available, but also crack down on illegal organ trading.

In particular, a Mr Lee - who is on the transplant list - said donors should not be penalised for donating their organs.

Every year, more than a thousand people in Singapore lose the use of their kidneys.

Most of them are on dialysis and of these, more than a third die within the first year.

- CNA/ir