New Bill Legalizes Organ Donations Btw. HIV-Positive People|愛滋感染者器官可互捐 修法初審通過

The Executive Yuan is amending laws to allow HIV-positive people to receive organ donations by signing a consent form. The Ministry of Health and Welfare says this will not result in additional infections since organs will be donated from other HIV-positive people. The draft bill has passed the first review in the legislature.


Under current laws, people that are HIV positive cannot donate blood or organs. Laws amended three years ago allowed HIV-positive people to receive healthy organs. The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently finalized a draft bill to legalize organ donations between HIV-positive donors and recipients.

Are HIV-positive people placed lower on transplant lists? Currently, we use allocation principles. Whether someone is HIV positive doesn't affect their standing on the list.

Since the amendment three years ago, eight HIV-positive people have registered on transplant lists. The first of the eight received a new heart last year. If the new bill is passed, HIV-positive people in good health that meet certain requirements will be able to donate organs to other HIV-positive people who are also in good health. Based on overseas statistics, this could increase the organ donor pool by up to 70 per year.

Of course, there aren't enough organs. If we allow -- if HIV-positive people can donate (organs), it would definitely help alleviate the pressure.

Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung says HIV won't spread in Taiwan due to organ donations between HIV-positive people. There are currently 9,569 people on transplant lists in Taiwan but only 251 on organ donor lists.