Vietnam drops plan for child organ donors after public backlash
A revised draft law limits posthumous organ donation to people aged 18 or older after criticism of a provision covering 15 to 17-year-olds.
Vietnam has withdrawn a proposal that would have let children aged 15 to 17 donate their organs after death, following criticism online, CNA, The Straits Times and The Hindu reported on Monday.
The provision was part of a draft submitted to the National Assembly in October to update a 2006 law on organ and tissue donation. It covered tissues, organs and bodies, and required consent from the child's parent or legal representative. A revised draft dated Sunday removes it. The government said it had accepted recommendations from lawmakers that only legal adults be permitted to donate their organs.
State outlet Tuoi Tre News said the provision "prompted considerable controversy and differing opinions among the public". "Taking these concerns into account, the government has revised the draft," it said, adding that the new text limits organ donation to people aged 18 or older.
Dissent is heavily restricted in communist Vietnam. The reports said opposition centred on whether parental consent could adequately protect child donors from pressure or exploitation. National Assembly deputy Pham Khanh Phong Lan urged lawmakers in October to reject the idea, saying: "You cannot sacrifice one child to save another."
A separate line of criticism targeted an October survey of schoolchildren, some as young as seven, carried out to gather feedback on the draft. Tuoi Tre said the poll led to questions about whether minors could understand complex medical, legal and ethical issues.
One Threads user wrote on Monday: "The power of public scrutiny has paid off. It is a relief to see this draft proposal rejected."
Officials say the update to the law is meant to increase life-saving transplants while safeguarding donors. Vietnam began kidney transplants in 1992 and performs the most transplants each year in the region, according to state media. The vast majority rely on living donors, and deceased donor transplants remain limited. In many other countries, most transplants use organs from deceased donors, which gives them a larger donor pool.
The revised draft still allows living minors to donate regenerative tissue to family members for bone marrow or stem cell transplants when no suitable adult donor is available. That procedure would require health assessments, counselling and consent from both the child and their legal representative.
Sources: CNA, Vietnam scraps child organ donors proposal after backlash; The Straits Times, Vietnam scraps child organ donors proposal after backlash; The Hindu, Vietnam scraps child organ donors proposal after backlash.
