Human Organ Transplant Act 1987 - Singapore Statutes Online

Human Organ Transplant
Act 1987

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

An Act to make provision for the removal of organs for transplantation, for the prohibition of trading in organs and blood, and for purposes connected therewith.

[16 July 1987]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act is the Human Organ Transplant Act 1987.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“designated officer”, in relation to a hospital, means a person appointed under section 3 to be the designated officer of the hospital;

[Deleted by Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

“Director‑General” means the Director‑General of Health;

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

“hospital” means a hospital which is declared by the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, to be a hospital for the purposes of this Act or any part of the Act;

“licensee”, in relation to a hospital, means a person —

(a)	to whom a licence has been issued under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act 1980^* in respect of the hospital; or
(b)	who is authorised to provide an acute hospital service under a licence granted under the Healthcare Services Act 2020; [Act 3 of 2020 wef 03/01/2022]

“living donor organ transplant” means the removal of a specified organ from the body of any living person for the purpose of its transplantation into the body of another living person;

“medical practitioner” means a person who is registered, or deemed to be registered, as a medical practitioner under the Medical Registration Act 1997;

“organ” means —

(a)	except as provided in paragraph (b), any organ of a human body specified in the First Schedule; and
(b)	for the purposes of Parts 4 and 4A, any organ of a human body;

“specified organ” means any organ of a human body specified in the Second Schedule;

“transplant ethics committee”, in relation to a hospital, means a committee of the hospital appointed under section 16(1).

[*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition]

Designated officers

3. The Director‑General may appoint, in writing, any medical practitioner to be the designated officer of a hospital for the purposes of this Act.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

PART 2

REMOVAL OF ORGAN AFTER DEATH

Authorities may remove organ after death

4.—(1) The designated officer of a hospital may, subject to and in accordance with this section, authorise, in writing, the removal of any organ from the body of a person who has died in the hospital for the purpose of the transplantation of the organ to the body of a living person.

(2) No authority may be given under subsection (1) for the removal of the organ from the body of any deceased person —

(a)	who has during the deceased person’s lifetime registered his or her objection with the Director‑General to the removal of the organ from his or her body after his or her death; [Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]
(b)	who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident of Singapore;
(c)	who is below 21 years of age unless the deceased person’s parent or guardian has consented to such removal; or
(d)	whom the designated officer, after making such inquiries as are reasonable in the circumstances, has reason to believe was mentally disordered, unless the deceased person’s parent or guardian has consented to such removal.

(3) In this section, “permanent resident” includes —

(a)	a person who holds a Singapore blue identity card; and
(b)	a person who holds an Entry Permit or a Re-entry Permit issued by the Controller of Immigration,

and who is not subject to any restriction as to the person’s period of residence in Singapore imposed under the Immigration Act 1959.

Coroner’s consent

5.—(1) If the designated officer of the hospital has reason to believe that the circumstances applicable to the death of a person are such that the Coroner has jurisdiction to hold an inquest into the manner and cause of death of the person, the designated officer must not authorise the removal of any organ from the body of the deceased person unless the Coroner has given the Coroner’s consent to the removal.

(2) The consent by the Coroner under this section may be expressed to be subject to such conditions as are specified in the consent.

(3) The consent may be given orally by the Coroner, and if so given must be confirmed in writing.

(4) In this section, “Coroner” means the State Coroner or a Coroner appointed under the Coroners Act 2010.

Organ to be removed and transplanted by authorised medical practitioners

6.—(1) No person other than an authorised medical practitioner in a hospital is to remove any organ which is authorised to be removed pursuant to section 4 or transplant any such organ.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), “authorised medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner who has been authorised by the Director‑General to remove any organ pursuant to section 4 or to transplant any such organ.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Operation of other laws

7. Nothing in this Part prevents the removal of any organ from the bodies of deceased persons in accordance with any other written law.

PART 3

REGISTRATION OF OBJECTION

Persons may register their objection

8.—(1) Any person who objects to the removal of any organ from the person’s body after the person’s death for the purpose mentioned in section 4(1) may register the person’s objection in respect of that organ with the Director‑General in the prescribed form.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

(2) Upon receipt of the written objection of a person under subsection (1), the Director‑General must issue to that person an acknowledgment in the prescribed form.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

Director‑General to maintain register

9.—(1) The Director‑General must establish and maintain a register in which must be entered the objection of all persons lodged in accordance with section 8.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

(2) The register mentioned in subsection (1) is not open to inspection by the public.

(3) Any person who wilfully destroys, mutilates or makes any unauthorised alteration in the register mentioned in subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

[10

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

Persons may withdraw their objection

10.—(1) Any person who has registered the person’s objection with the Director‑General under section 8 in respect of any organ may withdraw the person’s objection in the prescribed form.

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

(2) Upon receipt of the withdrawal of a person under subsection (1), the Director‑General must issue to that person an acknowledgment in the prescribed form and must remove the objection from the register mentioned in section 9(1).

[11

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

Proposed recipients of organ

11. In the selection of a proposed recipient of any organ removed pursuant to section 4 —

(a)

a person who has not registered any objection with the Director‑General under section 8(1) in respect of that organ has priority over a person who has registered such objection; and

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

(b)

a person who has registered the person’s objection with the Director‑General under section 8(1) in respect of that organ but who has withdrawn such objection under section 10(1) has the same priority as a person who has not registered any such objection, over a person whose objection in respect of that organ is still registered with the Director‑General, at the expiry of 2 years from the date of receipt of the withdrawal by the Director‑General provided the person has not registered again any such objection since that date.

[12

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

Appointment of a committee

12. The Director‑General may appoint a committee consisting of at least 5 members to be in charge of matters relating to the selection of proposed recipients of any organ removed pursuant to section 4 and such other matters as may be directed by the Director‑General from time to time.

[13

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

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