Fear a loved one will ‘suffer’ tops reasons families refuse organ donation

 Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says many families also do not know what the deceased wanted and worry that burial will be delayed.

Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said his ministry is expanding education programmes on organ donation in schools, universities and communities. (Envato Elements pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Fear that a loved one will “suffer” is the most common reason families refuse organ donation, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

In a written parliamentary reply, he said an analysis by his ministry found that 33.7% of refusals were driven by concerns that the deceased would suffer.

Dzulkefly said 18.7% of families also declined because they did not know the deceased’s wishes, while 17.3% were concerned that burial would be delayed and 17.2% feared the body would be disfigured.

Other reasons include the inability of family members to reach an agreement (6.4%), difficulty accepting the death (3.8%), and confusion relating to religious beliefs (2.7%).

Dzulkefly said these figures showed that the understanding, beliefs and emotional state of family members played a significant role in decision-making, especially when families must decide quickly in critical medical situations.

He said the National Transplant Centre was spearheading efforts to increase donation rates, including ongoing awareness campaigns across television, radio, newspapers and social media.

Dzulkefly said the ministry was also expanding education programmes in schools, universities and communities, with support from NGOs, transplant groups, the private sector and the media.

He was responding to Roy Angau Gingkoi (GPS-Lubok Antu), who had asked why organ donation rates remained low and what measures were being taken to encourage more people to pledge their organs.

In August last year, the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy urged the government to consider adopting an opt‑out system for organ donation after Dzulkefly said that objections from donors’ next-of-kin remained a main challenge for organ donation in the country.

An opt-out system would presume that Malaysians are donors unless they actively record their objection or opt out.

The health think tank said countries with opt‑out systems consistently achieved substantially higher donation rates, with studies showing that they typically had 25% to 30% higher donation rates than opt‑in systems. - FMT