Let's pay organ donors!

December 3, 2005

PHILOSOPHY MATTERS

People have been usually critical of the practice of buying or selling human organs for transplant. We feel that the practice turns vital parts of the human body into objects of commercial transactions --something that should not be allowed to happen with things rendered sacred by God's hands in creation.

The buying and selling of organs also expose poor people to abuse and exploitation. Indeed, health authorities must act effectively to end the commercialization of human organs and the exploitation of those who are too poor to assert the integrity of their bodies or those who are too ignorant to realize what they are getting into.

Yet, organ donation is also a commendable act. We admire people who are willing to take personal risks that save the lives of others. We ought to encourage this kind of heroism.

And if we want to encourage it, should we not also reward it? I think we should -- we ought to pay organ donors! But let me explain.

Let me first clarify what I do not mean. I do not mean to endorse the proliferation of commercial middlemen who collect fees for finding donors. I think this practice constitutes a national disgrace. Organ brokers operating in some barangays have lured people to turn out en masse to sell their kidneys. In these transactions, donors are exploited in a number of ways: (1) tricked to accept arrangements without understanding the exact nature of the risks involved; (2) not given recognition for the positive value of the sacrifice they are making, (3) not provided proper health care, counseling and advice before and after their kidneys are removed; (4) given onerously inadequate compensation that is even lower than the fees collected by middlemen; and (5) forced to act and feel like criminals when they should be treated as heroes for making a courageous sacrifice so that other people may enjoy their lives.

In this process, the donors and their vital organs are treated as commodities that are bought or sold in an underground market. They are given price tags that could be negotiated through organ vendors. They are left at the mercy of market forces. For these reasons, we should be suspicious of arrangements that allow people in need of transplantable organs to pay their benefactors.

But, our suspiciousness of the transactions need not lead us to condemn organ transplantation itself. Organ transplantation saves lives. Done properly, organ transplantation between people who are unrelated cements bonds among human beings and encourages virtues that make us better persons.

I say we must pay organ donors because we must reward them like we do other heroes. We should not make them feel like they are criminals for accepting rewards recognizing their heroism. When human organs are transplanted, health professionals, assistants, hospitals, pharmacies, etc., are all paid for their part in the process. Why should we refuse to compensate the person who makes the most vital contribution to the success of the life-saving effort?

Rather than putting the blame on poor and exploited organ donors, authorities should move for the establishment of a system that will (1) reward organ donors systematically so they do not have to beg for payment, (2) drive organ brokers out of business, (3) establish the priorities for matching of organ donors with recipients, (4) provide proper medical care and advice to donors and (5) provide assistance that will enable the poor to be the beneficiaries of transplantable organs when they are the ones in need. Authorities should work together with NGOs and volunteer organizations. If they only half-succeeded in this task, organ donation can be recognized as a truly honorable deed. More people will be encouraged to donate transplantable organs.

(Please address comments to decastro@kssp.upd.edu.ph.)

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This article posted December 29, 2005.