HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee condemned an unusual rise in the number of withdrawal requests to the city’s organ donation system, saying yesterday that police would investigate suspicious cases.
According to the government, the city’s centralised organ donation registration system received nearly 5,800 withdrawal applications in the five months since December.
More than half of the withdrawal applications were found to be invalid, either as duplicate applications or coming from people who had never opted in.
At a regular press briefing, Lee pointed to those who withdrew their applications without ever registering, calling the moves suspicious. “I severely condemn those who attempt to cause damages to this noble system which saves lives through organ donations,” he said.“This is a shameful act.”
Under an opt-in system, Hong Kong currently has more than 357,000 registrants in the financial hub that houses seven million people. Organ donations have been met with resistance in Hong Kong because of an ingrained cultural desire to keep bodies intact.
Hong Kong issued a strong-worded statement on Monday, saying it could not rule out that a small number of people made withdrawal attempts in a bid to undermine the reputation of the system, and to increase administrative burden.
