The Health, Welfare & Food Bureau will study a proposal to use Smart ID cards to carry or access organ-donation information.

In a Legislative Council paper, the bureau said the Smart ID card could be used as an alternative and convenient means for organ donors to indicate their wish through electronic channels.

The proposal could supplement the current organ-donation card system, it added.

However, the bureau stressed that, given current social values, even if the proposal is adopted, the existing practice of seeking the consent of the deceased's next-of-kin for organ donation should continue and the next-of-kin's decision should be respected.

Legislative amendment required

Under the existing provisions, information about a person's willingness to become an organ donor is not a prescribed particular that is required to be furnished for the purpose of the registration and issue of an ID card.

Should the proposal to incorporate organ-donation details in the Smart ID card be adopted, a legislative amendment will be required to enable the Director of Immigration to include the data in the ID card.

The bureau will study whether there is sufficient spare capacity in the Smart ID card to store all the organ-donation details.

It will also explore how it can provide for the donor to amend the record in the Smart ID Card anytime he/she wishes to do so, and to allow authorised persons to access the organ-donation details in case the donor is unconscious or dead.