Organ donors: deceased or alive? Quo vadis?
Irrespectively of universal shortage of donor organs there is a tendency of increasing the number of transplantations from living and deceased donors. Each of these two methods has positive and negative features. The main obstacles using living donors are health hazard, necessity to solve certain donor's social and psychological problems, possibility of organ trade and moving. The main problems connected with organ retrieval from deceased donors are possible conflicts with public opinion: difficulties in interpretation of brain death, legislation, obtaining of informed consent from donor's relatives, etc. Future progress in organ transplantation may take place through activation of organ retrieval from deceased donors. The most perspective ways are change to presumed consent in all countries, establishing of centralized system of donor detection and registration, intensification of transplant coordination, active contacts with mass-media, etc. It is necessary to increase (enhance) participation of the members of the public in organ donation process, to develop solidarity among the public members and to involve public authorities to deal with this problem. Bioethical standards should be put in accordance with common progress and some ethical traditions should be changed.
Rozental
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Latvian Transplantation Centre, Riga Stradin University, Riga, Latvia. rafail_rozental@transplantation.lv
D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors / Q000941:ethics* / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods; D011639:Public Opinion; D011641:Public Relations