How Far Should We Go With Organ Donation?

With the growth of an ageing population, improved technology and an ever increasing demand for organ donation, do we need to rethink current practices?


On 19 April 2010, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics opened a consultation on the donation and use of human body parts in medicine and research. The Council is asking the public just how far it would be prepared to go in promoting the donation of eggs, sperm, organs and other human body parts for use and research in medical science


Reflecting Public Concerns and Stimulating Debate

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics investigates ethical issues raised by new developments in biology and medicine. Established by the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, the Council is an independent body funded jointly by the Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The Council has established an international reputation for addressing public concerns, and providing independent advice to assist policy makers and stimulate debate in bioethics.

Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern, Professor of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, is the Chair of the inquiry, and is interested in the ethics of providing increased incentives like cash and meeting funeral costs, and why different rules exist for different types of donation. She points out that:

“Women can already get free IVF treatment from private clinics to encourage them to donate eggs, and healthy volunteers may be paid significant sums of money to ‘donate’ their bodies to test new medicines for the first time in humans.”

Is the present System fair or could it be better balanced to include other kinds of donation and testing? Read more