An organ transfer is defined as a transfer of a living tissue or organ to an ill or an injured person to reduce disability and restore health. This procedure gives new hope and new life to ailing patients, particularly when several kidneys transplants are successfully transplanted. Doctors have therefore discovered how to transplant other organs successfully, thus improving the quality of life, and reducing the mortality and mortality. Today, the procedures of an organ transplant are relatively safe and are no longer viewed as experiments, but seen as options for treating thousands of patients with medical indications, particularly those suffering from renal failure, respiratory disease, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver. In this regard, the report will explore organ transplant ethically, socially, and religious issues in a multicultural society.
Organs can be transplanted from a deceased donor or a living donor. Livers and kidneys are examples of organs that can be transplanted. The liver is capable of regeneration, and human beings are born with two kidneys and have one ‘extra’ kidney to donate. Lung transplantation is very rear, but it is a possible process. This type of procedure requires a patient who is need of transplantation to seek a willing friend or relative as a donor. If a donor is a match, then the surgical procedure would proceed without delay (Slater, 2013). In many countries, there are a small number of living transplants that are from charitable people who donate for good cause. For those patients who need a heart transplant, a double lung transplant, a pancreatic transplant or cornea transplant tend to get the organ from a deceased donor or from people who are brain dead. Slater (2013) asserts that organs are then placed in a life support machine. Despite the fact that people who are brain dead are technically dead, their organs and body can still be functioning, hence suitable for organ donation. However, some organs for the deceased and brain dead may wane quickly after the body expires, thus making them inappropriate when it comes for transplant.
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In an organ transplant, there are several ethical factors to consider. This process is hailed as one of the greatest achievements of modern surgery. However, many ethical disagreements are associated with this procedure. Organ transplant is costly since it includes a surgical process and later on the continuing rehabilitation process. This means that only the reach people will get a new organ, and a poor person refused. Both the consent and incentive of the donor and the patient should be considered for the transplantation to take place. According to Stein, Higgins, and Wild (2008), the consent should be given willingly, and should not be taken under duress or after harassment. When someone sells his or her incentives, there should not be any questionable incentive.
The procurement process is another factor that affects organ transplantation. This is mainly due to different views on death. Many people view death as when the heart and lungs stop, or when the entire brain ceased to have activity, or when the higher functions stop. These are important issues to consider as no one would want to take organs particularly from someone who is still alive. Waiting for brain death, on the other hand, could leave many organs unusable. There are competent patients who have the right to make informed choices regarding their bodies and their lives (Stein, Higgins and Wild. 2008). They have the right to reject medical therapy under certain circumstances and offer their organs for transplantation, irrespective of their circumstances of their death.
Currently, there is a shortage of donor’s organs worldwide. Therefore, regulations and laws regarding living-unrelated transplantation in many countries are either loosely regulated or non-existence. For instance, Malaysia had a vetting system by the National Transplantation Committee for living-unrelated transplantation. Despite the fact that Singapore had a similar vetting process, the recent comment by health Minister of Singapore on compensation for the loss of a kidney is worrying. This factor will kill organ trafficking thus pushing appropriate government agencies in the right direction.
Transplant specialist and physician should consider values such as patient-doctor trust, human dignity, and a presence of a conflict of the interest. Here, the procedure should include a fully informed process where the interest of procuring organs should not interfere with optimal patient management particularly during the dying process. Stein, Higgins, and Wild (2008) suggest that when it comes to legal and ethical issues, a person should not be taken his or her life to providing organs for another. Furthermore, organ retrieval cannot commence unless the donor had been declared dead.
Religious and social issues play a major role, especially in a multiethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious community. Today, the formal position of religion to organ donation and transplant play an important factor in persuading the community regarding the organ transplant. On social aspect, the perception that the body of the donor would be mutilated and treated badly should bad removed. The organs are removed surgically through a routine operation. Organ donation thus not result to disfiguration of the body. Another misconception is when a donor is worried that after the donation of one organ, the other organ would also be taken. Physicians and donors’ specialist should take full responsibility to inform patients that only organs specified for donation will be taken from the body (Ponticelli, 2007). In addition, age does not form a barrier for organ donation, since organs can be donated from someone as young as a newborn.
In conclusion, organ transplant is a safe procedure that gives new life and new hope to thousands of people. When tackling this issue, it should not be forgotten that this a discussion of death and life, where a decision is made on who lives, who dies, and why. The issue also concerns real people who are suffering, and decisions made based on good ethics and proper understanding of religious and social aspects. This will facilitate and make the process less painful as stated by Ponticelli (2007). Both the physicians and community should, therefore, approach organ transplant objectively and positively and treat social, ethical, and religious issues as negotiable perspectives and not barriers to organ transplant.
References
Slater, K. (2013). How to do a liver transplant: Stories from a surgical life . Sydney, N.S.W: NewSouth Publishing.
Stein, A., Higgins, R., & Wild, J. (2008). Kidney transplants explained . London: Class.
Ponticelli, C. (2007). Medical Complications of Kidney Transplantation. United State: CRC Press.
