Too early to decide if illegal actions are behind Hong Kong surge in organ donor registration withdrawals, justice minister says
- Secretary for Justice Paul Lam says authorities examining reasons for sudden jump in withdrawals from organ donor register
- Concern group calls for work to be done to find out reasons behind cancellation of registrations for organ donor scheme
It is still too early to decide whether illegal acts were involved in a surge of withdrawals from Hong Kong’s organ donor registration system, the city’s justice minister has said.
The news came as a concern group on Wednesday called for work to be done to gauge the sentiment behind the cancellations.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said the authorities were still looking into the reasons for the trend.
“We hope to understand the reasons behind the withdrawals. Currently, we are still at the stage of learning,” Lam told reporters at the legislature. “It is too early to determine whether there are any inappropriate conditions or illegal issues. We don’t have enough information for that.”
The city’s organ donor registration system should also be improved by requiring more personal details, the Hong Kong Transplant Sports Association suggested after reports of an unusual rise in people applying to withdraw from the register since December, a situation that sparked condemnation from Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday and a police investigation.
