英譯概念：Organ Transplantation
【明報專訊】In August 2021, the first paired kidney transplant was completed in Hong Kong. Two pairs of patients and their family members underwent kidney extraction and transplantation in two hospitals at the same time. Four of them were discharged before the Mid-Autumn Festival in September. The patients no longer needed kidney dialysis. The operations involved two middle-aged couples. Kidney recipient A had undergone dialysis for nearly eight years. Family members wanted to donate organs twice, but their blood types were incompatible. The patient joined the matching pool at the beginning of the Paired Kidney Donation Pilot Programme and had been waiting for nearly three years, but his health was deteriorating, and was to have been removed from the waiting list. He described himself as very lucky for being able to participate in the paired transplant. One of the kidney recipients said that he was especially grateful to his wife for donating a kidney to a stranger, thus giving him a chance of rebirth.
The Hospital Authority said that currently live kidney transplants are mainly donated by the patient's immediate family or spouse, but some families are unable to receive the transplant due to incompatible blood types or tissue types. Ms Hui, chairperson of the patient group, Alliance for Renal Patients Mutual Help Association, believed that the programme will help reduce the waiting time for kidney transplants, but it has insufficient publicity. Many members of the patient group and family members do not familiar with the programme and have not joined the matching pool. She hopes that society will be more open to the idea and can benefit more people.
Mock examination question
What do you think the government can do to address the situation in which patients have to wait for a long time for organ transplant? Use the source and your knowledge for your answer. (6 marks)
Suggested Answers
The government can learn from organ donation policies overseas to shorten the waiting time for organ transplant patients. According to the source, for some patients waiting for a kidney transplant, some family members have incompatible blood or tissue types and cannot donate their kidneys. Patients can only wait for a cadaveric kidney. This is one of the reasons for the long waiting time for organ transplantation. To solve the problem, the government can scale up the Paired Kidney Donation Pilot Programme, extend the matching scheme to other organ donation projects.
The government can shorten the long waiting time by intensifying publicity on the Centralised Organ Donation Register (CODR). At present, some people do not know much about the register, and the decrease in the number of registrations will reduce the number of prospective donors and prolong the waiting time.
The government can strengthen public awareness of organ donation. By cooperating with TV stations or YouTubers to shoot dramas or short films related to organ donation, so as to increase public awareness of organ donation.
(本刊刊出的文章若提出批評，旨在指出相關制度、政策或措施存在錯誤或缺點，目的是促使矯正或消除這些錯誤或缺點，循合法途徑予以改善，絕無意圖煽動他人對政府或其他社群產生憎恨、不滿或敵意。)
[智學公民 第062期]
