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SINGAPORE: The proposed live-donor registry, which will find a match among donors unrelated to a patient, could also be used to monitor the post-transplant condition of donors, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
He was elaborating on the idea of the registry, one of several possible measures he raised in Parliament on Monday to increase the transplant rate for organ failure patients in Singapore.
Some of these measures could be in place within the next 12 months.
24-year-old Alphonsus Tay gave his kidney to his older sister two years ago. Life is now back to normal for him. But back then, he would have liked to know how other donors were faring before deciding to give his kidney.
Such information, he said, could give more people the confidence to make the decision he had made.
He said: "It'll let them know that there are others out there as well, what they're going through, what they continue to go through. That's very important, to know that they belong in a group and they're doing a good thing."
That's what Mr Khaw hopes to achieve through Singapore's first national live-donor registry.
Information collected would include the health of donors after their transplants, their financial and employment situation and whether they face difficulties in buying medical or life insurance.
Singapore may be the first in the world to systematically track its live donors and in developing its own model.
Mr Khaw said voluntary welfare organisations and the public will be closely involved. Charities could be formed to take care of the post-transplant needs of donors and their families, and accept donations in kind or in cash.
He said: "The charity may then think of how best to make use of that money, in the best way possible, to maximise the welfare of donors and their families."
Mr Khaw was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the completion of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School building.
Located next to the Singapore General Hospital, it will be called the Khoo Teck Puat building, after the late hotelier and philanthropist who donated S$80 million to the school's programmes.
Looking ahead, the Health Ministry hopes to partner the Duke University in the United States for future programmes in allied healthcare.
- CNA/ir
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