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Britons are being asked if people should get cash incentives to donate eggs
and sperm, and whether the funeral expenses of organ donors should be paid in a
bid to address a severe shortage.
The medical ethics think-tank, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics has
launched a public consultation to look at whether people think it is right that
donors should receive payments or other incentives to meet a growing demand.
Currently, paying people to donate most organs, beyond offering modest expenses,
is illegal in Britain.
About 8,000 people need an organ transplant in Britain each year and
hundreds die waiting for a suitable donor. The organ shortage has forced many to
seek treatment overseas. A change in the law in 2005, which removed donors'
right to anonymity has led to a sharp fall in the number of donations.
Britain has one of the lowest rates of organ donation, at just 13 per
million of population compared with 35 per million in Spain where a "presumed
consent" system operates, which effectively make everyone a potential donor
unless they choose to opt out.
Professor Marilyn Strathern, chairman of the Council's inquiry into the
issue, said: "We could try to increase the number of organ donors by providing
stronger incentives, such as cash, paying funeral costs or priority for an organ
in future, but would this be ethical?"
The Council said incentives could be non-financial, such as offering
letters of thanks, T-shirts, mugs or vouchers, or allowing future donors to jump
the queue for transplants should they later need one.
"We also need to think about the morality of pressing people to donate
their bodily material," Strathern said. "Offering payment or other incentives
may encourage people to take risks or go against their beliefs in a way they
would not have otherwise done."
In 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not rule out bringing in
a "presumed consent" plan for organ donation. However the Organ Donation
Taskforce said that evidence from across the world indicated that such a plan
would not improve donation rates.
In January, a study by fertility experts found that a drastic lack of sperm
donors meant women wanting babies were resorting to importing semen from abroad
or using do-it-yourself insemination kits bought on the Internet.
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发表于 2016-7-10 17:42:03