Black markets exist around the world for many different goods and services, namely drugs, prostitution, weapons, gambling, alcohol and tobacco. These underground markets occur when the quantity demanded of a product far exceeds the quantity supplied.
It should come as no surprise that the illegal trade in human organs has become a multi-million dollar market worldwide.
More than 100,000 people in the United are on the waiting list, and there simply aren’t enough donors to meet the overwhelming demand. organs
Because it is not included in the United States Constitution, organ donation regulation is left to the states. .
Illinois, for example, operates under the original consent law, which makes a person an organ donor legally binding.
Illinois residents can visit Lifegoeson.com to sign up for the public organ and tissue donor registry. By signing in the register, witnesses or family consent to the donation is no longer required.
Illinois’ system of organ donation is changing for the better in recent years, but it is not enough. People die every day waiting for a vital organ transplant to survive, and every day the organs of the workers die with the people. who never attempted to become a donor.
According to Donate Life Illinois, 87 percent of Illinois adults believe that registering as an organ donor is the right thing to do, but only 60 percent have done so.
A reasonable solution to closing the policy gap is presumptive consent.
The plan is already in place in the countries of France, Sweden and Spain, and it simply means that every citizen is an organ donor, unless otherwise specified.
Presumed consent would immediately eliminate thousands (or perhaps millions) of potential donors willing but not taking the necessary step to become an organ donor.
According to Organdonor.gov, more than 8,000 organs were donated, mostly from deceased individuals, from January to July 2009 at United States.
This number, while impressive, is still a long way from the 100,000-plus expected to be transplanted.
Under the presumptive consent policy, individuals who do not want to donate organs for religious or other reasons could simply opt out by entering the database, as they are now donors.
A decision on the presumptive consent of the parties could have benefits. With the growing supply of organs available for transplantation, black market products were decreasing significantly.
Dangerous retrograde heart transplants will become less common and thousands of Americans on organ waiting lists could take their lives. again
A study published by Alberto Abadie of Harvard University and Sebastien Gay of the University of Chicago in 2005 states, in part, “Consent legislation is presumed to have a large effect on organ donation rates.”
The study followed a panel of 22 countries over a 10-year period. This is determined, simply, because “countries with presumed consent legislation have higher rates of organ donation.”
The authors of the study cite the United States and Great Britain as the most informed countries, while France and Spain are the two countries with a presumptive consensus decision.
While the UK looks to mount public pressure, as it continues to move towards a presumptive consent system, the United States continues to face other problems leaves the face untouched. But with the economy taking center stage again, perhaps now is the time to push for such reform.
The state of Illinois should initiate bi-partisan legislation to develop a new policy for organ donation and set the standard for other states to follow.
It might be too far-fetched for change to take place immediately, so a massive war of communication would be necessary to inform the public.
Or it can be an ancestor in the population, and the plan is implemented for the population born after the change.
Any up-front cost associated with changing Illinois’ organ donation policy would be well-justified, with tangible effects on people living everywhere.
After all, what is human life worth?
