“Goodbye Kidney, Hello money?!”

“Goodbye Kidney, Hello money?!”
An Increasing Awareness about the Grim Reality of Organ Trafficking

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
• Is the mere sale of organs considered a violation of human trafficking law?
• Does organ trafficking pose a social threat?
• Are the counter -measures implemented by the Philippine government effective against organ trafficking?
• What is the role of the nurse regarding this issue?

Organ donation is fast becoming an important bioethical issue from a social perspective as well so our group stands in opposition to organ trafficking. We’ve selected this certain issue because it raises an alarm regarding the increasing numbers of organ trafficking around the world especially in our own motherland. The Human organ transplantation gives new hope, particularly to patients with end stage diseases, to recuperate and regain an acceptable and well-mannered lifestyle. We know by heart that it can provide a much better quality of life to patients in comparison with alternative costly and exorbitant medical interventions (e.g., renal dialysis). Human organ transplantation, however, cannot be separated from the human act of donation. It is a decision to offer, without reward, a part of one’s own body for the health and well-being of another person. In this sense, the medical action of transplantation makes possible the donor’s act of self-giving, that sincere gift of self which expresses our constitutive calling to love and communion however it raises many ethical concerns.

In lined with the World Health Organization (2008), their argue is that transplantations promote health, but the notion of “transplantation tourism” has the potential to violate human rights or exploit the poor, to have unintended health consequences, and to provide unequal access to services, all of which ultimately may cause harm. Regardless of the “gift of life”, in the context of developing countries, this might be coercive. The practice of coercion could be considered exploitative of the poor population, violating basic human rights according to Articles 3 and 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There is also a powerful opposing view, that trade in organs, if properly and effectively regulated to ensure that the seller is fully informed of all the consequences of donation, is a mutually beneficial transaction between two consenting adults, and that prohibiting it would itself be a violation of Articles 3 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In accordance with Dr. Ernie Vera, Department of Health’s Medical Officer VII and program manager of the Philippine Organ Donation (2009), The Renal Disease Registry of 2006 records 10,000 to 12,500 Filipinos develop renal disease annually and approximately 60 percent are suitable kidney transplant candidates; but only less than 10 percent are actually transplanted, only 350 will be able to get a transplant out of the 6,000 in the waiting list.

There has arisen a black market often referred to as transplant tourism. The issues are weighty and controversial. On the one hand are those who contend that those who can afford to buy organs are exploiting those who are desperate enough to sell their organs. Many suggest these results in a growing inequality of status between the rich and the poor. On the other hand are those who contend that the desperate should be allowed to sell their organs, and that stopping them is merely contributing to their status as impoverished? Further, those in favor of the trade hold that exploitation is morally preferable to death, and insofar as the choice lies between abstract notions of justice on the one hand and a dying person whose life could be saved on the other hand, the organ trade should be legalized.

The same issue, however, can also be abused and exploited usually at the expense of the economically poor. The lack of access to renal care and the non-affordability of a life-long dialysis increase the demand for organ donors. In spite of the prohibition for health care professionals and facilities, there is an increasing organ sale, especially of kidneys, a practice that is perhaps apparently permitted by some physicians, Kidney Transplant Teams, and hospital authorities. There are even some currents in the Philippines who are advocating a change in policies and guidelines to open the door to incentives for organ donors and, even perhaps, to compensation.

We understand the poor and they should not be blamed. There are other ways to help them but not through organ sale. They are human beings and cannot be treated as commodities. We encourage voluntary organ donation from cadavers and also from living donors. We condemn any form of organ sale and organ trade.

Human organ sale or trade, by its very nature is morally unacceptable. It is contrary to the dignity of the human person, his or her authentic autonomy and the essential equality of all persons. The dignity of the human person as the image of God includes not only his or her soul but his or her corporeal being. Hence, our body ought not to be treated as a commodity or object of commerce, which would amount to the dispossession or plundering of the human body.

As nurses, we should emphasize and educate our clients regarding their rights, the risk that they are going to face and the lone term effects of organ donation to their life in general. Organ donation should be based on free and informed consent. Let us work together to remove the conditions that promote abuse and exploitation, such as poverty, ignorance and greed.”





References:
1. Ernie Vera,MD (2009) DOH
Date retrieved: April 19, 2010
2.
Date retrieved: April 19, 2010

3.
Date retrieved: April 19, 2010

4.
Date retrieved: April 19, 2010


Submitted by:
BERNARDO
MOLDOGO
SANTIAGO
VILLANUEVA

How do we define human trafficking? If there is a person in need of liver and is in critical condition, offering a money to a person to in exchange of his liver,will that be considered as human trafficking with the following premises:

1. There's a mutual agreement between two parties, even if you insist of giving them any material thing aside from money, still that is considered as buying an organ to a person not unless it was fully donated.
2. It's a choice of life and death, there is a possibility if shortage if we prevent other person from offering their organ for the benefit of the sick person in exchange of material things


Human trafficking may probably be illegal, however, there is a gray area in terms of its definition. There will be no problem if a person will sell his organ if he knows that there is a person in need and will eventually continue his life. It boils down on how we consider human trafficking and what are the parameters in which it can be said that it is illegal.

rayhan: We disagree with your statement that "There will be no problem if a person will sell his organ if he knows that there is a person in need and will eventually continue his life."

I think there will be problems - complications, that is, to the receiver: If your immune system identifies antigens that are foreign (not part of your body), it will attack them (Medline Plus, 2009) and to the donor as well because of altered body functions, altered body image that will eventually affect one's activities of daily living.

According to www.scu.edu, there are moral issues surrounding the selling of organs promise to remain very much alive. We will have to choose between two sets of moral values: the value we place on preventing death and alleviating suffering, and the value we place on respect for human dignity and our commitment to meeting human needs in a fair and equitable manner.

With this statement, which moral value does your group prefer to prove your stand on the issue? Why?

There are set rules to eradicate if not lessen the cases of organ selling according to Dizon (2008),Organs for transplantation should be removed preferably from the bodies of deceased persons; adult living persons may donate organs but they should be genetically related to recipients; The human body cannot be the subject of commercial transactions; and giving or receiving payment for organs should be prohibited. I believe that to be genetically related, one must be a a primary member of the donor's family, Kids usually resemble their parents and their siblings, because offspring inherit genes from their parents (Tree of Life, 2004). This rule also protects the recipient for the possible organ or tissue rejection.

if that will be the case, Isn't that the right of others to transplantation of voluntarily donated human organs for therapeutic purposes are being hampered?

Human beings having the gift of free will,we have the capacity to decide what is good for ourself or/and as well as for our family, one of the reasons why people sell their kidney is for monetary purposes, some of them are choosing an easy way out from financial problems. Selling an organ like a kidney which we all have a pair, living with a single kidney will still enable us to live with certain modification in our lifestyle, so we cannot really blame our countrymen to do such thing, besides not all parent and child are compatible in their organs, making the organ donation as well as organ selling gives the patient in need a greater chance of possible compatibility and chance of continuing his life.

If a life will be saved through organ donation. Can we be against it? For example, A man want to sell his kidney to a patient who badly needs it to use the money for the payment of an emergency operation of his child. Shall we oppose to this? The man who loses 1 kidney will still live, and he can still save 2 more lives, the life of the patient receiving the kidney, and his own child's life.