Tuesday
11Dec2007
Psst... Wanna Buy a Kidney?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 4:39PM
The Economist published this editorial last week, supporting the introduction of market forces to encourage living organ donation. Unlike our own country's leading newspapers and newsmagazines, The Economist does not simply endorse tepid organ donation awareness programs and utopian government intercession to solve the organ shortage, but rationally argues:
most countries are sticking with the worst of all policy options. Governments place the onus on their citizens to volunteer organs. A few European countries, including Spain, manage to push up supply a bit by presuming citizens' consent to having their organs transplanted when they die unless they specify otherwise. Whether or not such presumed consent is morally right, it does not solve the supply problem, in Spain or elsewhere. On the other hand, if just 0.06% of healthy Americans aged between 19 and 65 parted with one kidney, the country would have no waiting list.Addressing those who continue to oppose the introduction of any incentives, The Economist concludes:
The way to encourage this is to legalise the sale of kidneys.
Instinct often trumps logic. Sometimes that's right. But in this case, the instinct that selling bits of oneself is wrong leads to many premature deaths and much suffering. The logical answer, in this case, is the humane one.
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