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From The Lancet:
Dramatic Increase In Legal Supply Of Organs Needed To Stop Trafficking
08
Jun 2007
Initiatives to dramatically increase the legal supply of organ donation,
such as the proposal for the European Union (EU) -wide donor card, are
urgently needed to prevent organ trafficking, says an Editorial
in this week's edition of The Lancet.
The Editorial says: "Unless both living and deceased organ
donations increase exponentially to meet demand, there will always be
desperate people willing to do anything to receive a kidney, or other
body parts, and those living in abject poverty who are desperate enough
to risk being donors."
believe that donors can be properly checked before and cared for after
in such a system. The Editorial says: "In this context, the Iranian
model, in which donors are routinely paid and well looked after, and
where the supply of organs matches demand, is often considered the gold
standard."
Others see the commercial sale of organs as "morally repugnant", perhaps
because such a move could further widen the gap between the rich and the
poor, or because some things, such as human organs, "are too precious to
be treated as general goods."
The Editorial says that while demand for organs outstrips supply,
punitive measures will simply drive organ trafficking further
underground.
It concludes: "Cultural and social barriers regarding deceased donation
should also be addressed. Otherwise, although ethically and morally
suspect, the case for legalising and regulating the commercial sale of
human organs may appear to have the upper hand."
Organ donation is also discussed in the World Report section of
this week's The Lancet.
http://www.lancet.com
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