Organ donation: Moral ethics and human values

Abstract

Organ donation or transplantationis a surgical operation where a damaged or non-functional organ in the human body is removed and replaced with a new one. Because of the gradually increasing demand of viable organs, it is highly required to distribute such organs in a rational and justified manner to the patients who need them urgently. Several malpractices are often involved in organ donation including donating organs in exchange of a huge sum of money without considering properly the injuries and health concerns of the donor, exploiting the economically-challenged people by the affluent class, leading to the unscrupulous organ farming, not fulfilling the last wish of the donor in case of cadaveric organ donation, overexploitation of animal organs to meet the organ crises, as well as lack in proper management of organ distribution. Hence, several fundamental ethical principles, prevailing organdonation consent laws, incentives and policies relatedto the field of transplantation, etc., need to be properly recognized and put into practice. This article aims to provide a short overview of the ethical principles, moral values and regulations governing transplantation of organs from donors to patient recipients.