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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
A Hospital Authority (HA) spokesman today (January 12) said that a discretionary approval was granted to share a cadaveric liver to a patient in Taiwan as there is no appropriate matching recipient locally.
"The family of a brain-stem death patient in Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital indicated the wish to donate the liver of the patient yesterday evening (January 11). After reviewing the waiting list for liver transplantation, there was no appropriate recipient to receive the donated organ. The liver transplant team of Queen Mary Hospital then liaised with Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan to explore the potential organ donation to Taiwan for transplantation," the spokesman said.
After obtaining the consent of the deceased patient's family, the HA, in consultation with the Food and Health Bureau and the Department of Health, has decided to approve the sharing of the donated liver to Taiwan.
"The approval was considered and made on an ad hoc and individual case basis. We will continue the discussions in formulating a formal system in sharing of cadaveric organs with other places," the spokesman added. The spokesman reiterated that the formal mechanism to share cadaveric organs with other health authorities outside Hong Kong is yet to be established and the exploration with the Taiwan authorities are in progress.
The cadaveric liver was harvested this afternoon and handed over to the Taiwan transplant team at the Hong Kong Airport this evening after liaison with the Custom and Excise Department, Port Health Office of the Department of Health and the Hong Kong Airport Authority.
The HA would like to thank the family of the organ donor for their enthusiastic support and contribution to the promotion of organ donation to save life.
Ends/Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Issued at HKT 22:27
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