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SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Sunday he is heartened that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has given permission for Muslims to be included under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) and that the Muslim community supports the change.
He said the Health Ministry would spend the next few months studying and ironing out any "practical difficulties", before implementing the change.
Mr Khaw said: "I was very happy when I read about the new fatwa because if we're able to bring in the Muslims, it improves the (survival) chances for those with kidney failure. It's a good move to save lives."
But there are some kinks to iron out before changing the law.
He said: "We're studying the fatwa carefully with MUIS because some practical issues have been raised, like the worry about delays in burials and so on. Those are practical concerns. I think the Ministry of Health will need some time to study all these problems, bearing in mind that this is not compulsory for everybody.
"The individual's wishes should be respected and we have to make use of the opportunity for public education and explanation. Let's do it step by step. The next key point is making sure that the Muslim community is largely in support of the scheme while in parallel, we work out and study the practical difficulties."
Currently Muslims are excluded from HOTA and need to opt in to join the scheme.
But the number of Muslim organ pledges has been falling drastically. In 2004, there were 924 pledges. Last year, there were just 87. At the same time, 120 people are on the waiting list – many for a new kidney.
Having Muslims automatically included will give many patients hope for a new lease of life.
When implemented, Muslims who do not want to have their organs harvested after death will have to opt out of the scheme.
Speaking about opting out, Mr Khaw said fewer people now opt out of HOTA.
According to the Health Ministry, only 200 in the first two weeks of July have done so, which is a huge improvement from February this year when over 80 people opted out of HOTA every day.
The fallout came after news of a confrontation between family members and staff at the Singapore General Hospital when doctors tried to remove a dead man's organs for transplant.
Mr Khaw said: "We're now slowly coming back to pre-incident rate. But overall, I'm grateful that by and large, Singaporeans support organ donation through HOTA. So those who opt out are really the small minority and even though they are minority we respect their wishes because this is not something you can force on people.
"The key point is that (people) understand what this is all about – the intent is really to save lives."
- CNA/so
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