Human Tissue Review Meeting

Media Release

23 April 2004

Human Tissue Review Meeting

The first of a series of public consultation meetings on a major review on the use of human tissue will begin in Wellington next week.

The aim of the review is to put in place a comprehensive regulatory regime that covers both the use of tissue as a therapy such as organ transplantation, and the use of tissue for non-therapeutic purposes such as research or education. This will provide the framework for new legislation which is expected to take place by June 2005.

It is proposed the new legislation will cover:

provisions for the collection of tissue for therapeutic purposes – organ and tissue donation
consent for the collection of tissue for research and education
consent for non-coronial post-mortem examinations
definitions of who is able to give consent for tissue use on behalf of a deceased person
provisions regarding the sale and purchase of tissue
provisions that allow new tissue-based technologies to be controlled while they are assessed for acceptability and safety
consent for the collection of tissue for research and education
provisions for the safety of tissue-based therapies.

The meeting in Wellington will be held at Level 2, East Lounge, Westpac Stadium, Waterloo Quay on Tuesday 27 April 2004 from 9.15am to 4.30pm.

As the format will see the day split in two with therapeutic issues covered in the morning and non therapeutic issues covered in the afternoon we would encourage those wanting to attend to register as soon as possible by either phoning 04 4962244, faxing 04 496 2340 or emailing: humantissue@moh.govt.nz or they can register at the venue on the day.

Submissions closed on 4 June 2004.