Allowing children as young as 12 to become organ donors is among a set of proposed legislative changes being put forward by Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said today.

Addressing the launch of a public consultation on new proposed legislation on organ donation, Mr Fearne said the public was being asked if they agreed with lowering the age of consent for donation to as young as 12.

This would come following extensive education to empower educators, parents and guardians.

Under Maltese law anyone under the age of 18 is considered a minor and automatically excluded from registering for an organ donor card.

The White Paper, released today, refers to the system in place in Scotland where any child aged 12 and over, who is able to make their own decisions, can give permission for their organs and tissue to be donated.

A child under the age of 12 can also give organs in Scotland; however, the parents or guardians of such a child would have to sign off on the procedure.

The public consultation will close on May 20 and is also asking the public whether they want to retain the current opt in donation system, through which adults can chose to be donors, or introduce another model.

The options being proposed include an opt out model, where everyone is considered a donor unless they express otherwise, or a softer version of the two extremes.

Other issues up for discussion include whether next of kin should be able to override a patient’s wishes. The current legal framework allows for relatives to decline the deceased’s wishes to give out organs and tissue, something that has long irked NGOs.

Mr Fearne said that above all the proposed review aimed to regularise organ donation as this was not covered by a wide-enough legislation. It also seeks to regularise the issuing of organ donor cards which are currently only handed out by an NGO support group for donors. 

 Recommendations can be sent to consultations.meh-health@gov.mt.