Police investigation targets those who spread misinformation about organ donation, says health chief

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Thursday that authorities’ investigation over the recent organ donation “disruptions” targets those who spread misinformation.

The health chief’s comments came after chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu condemned the "shameful" act of people who tried to discourage others from organ donation and ordered police to investigate the disruption of its registration system.

Read more: Lee orders probe into 'shameful' sabotage of organ-donor work

Lo told the Legco today that citizens would not be in the wrong to register or deregister themselves from the organ-donor registry as long as they were making the decision independently.

He said although a number of people have distorted facts to smear the city’s organ donation mechanism, he was not worried that citizens would be affected by the fake news.

Meanwhile, Lo said the figure for organ donations in Hong Kong has been relatively low, with only dozens of successful transplants each year.

He said patients in need of the organs have to wait for an average of five years, with the longest wait being up to 29 years.