‘Unusual’ withdrawals from Hong Kong organ donor registry, after gov’t slams acting against ‘spirit of selfless love’
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s organ donation registry saw an “unusual disruption” over three days in May as over 28,000 withdrawal applications were recorded. It came after the government released a lengthy statement accusing a “small number of individuals” of going against the “spirit of selfless love.”
According to the Department of Health, the registry saw more than 28,000 withdrawal applications between May 22 and 24, of which over 75 per cent were invalid. The invalid withdrawals included applicants who had not registered in the first place or who did not complete the identity verification process, the department added.
The period coincided with a government statement published on May 22, when authorities condemned the alleged “abnormalities” in the number of withdrawal applications from the Centralised Organ Donation Register (CODR).
The city’s organ donation system has come under the spotlight in recent months since the government proposed an integration with mainland China that would allow the transfer of organs across the border. There has been a spike in organ donation withdrawal applications since.
Some Hongkongers have expressed their opposition to the proposal, local media reported. According to Ming Pao, some people have commented online saying they would be reluctant to donate organs to the mainland.
In the May 22 statement, the government said it had noticed that “a small number of individuals [were] distort[ing] the virtue and altruistic value of devotion in organ donation.”
“Some individuals also wantonly vilify the constructive significance of the proposed establishment of a standing mutual assistance mechanism for transplant by the two places, undoubtedly despising the inseparable ties between citizens of Hong Kong and the Mainland,” the statement read.
“[The Health Bureau] expresses regret towards such act which completely goes against the spirit of selfless love in organ donation,” it added.
While the vast majority of withdrawal applications over the three days in May were invalid, the number of valid applications in the entire month also increased. The city saw around 5,800 valid applications to withdraw from the CODR in May, or 7.5 times higher than in April, according to Department of Health figures cited by local media outlet The Collective.
The number is a three-year high, the outlet said.
Authorities have pledged to investigate the matter. Police arrested four men in June over suspicious donation registration and cancellations as Lee likened the “phenomenon” behind the withdrawal uptick to the “black riots” in 2019, referring to the protests and unrest that erupted that summer over a controversial extradition bill.
Citing the police, the Department of Health said some invalid withdrawals were suspected to involve fraudulent use of others’ personal data, or filling in irrelevant and insulting content in the form.
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