Introduction
Organ sale refers to the exchange of human body parts for money. In 2013, a young girl from Somalia had been brought into Britain a year before to harvest her organs and sell them illegally (Ambagtsheer, 2021). Studies indicate that she is not alone in the case. Millions of people around the globe, especially in impoverished nations, are victims of organ sales. Despite the efforts to avail these organs through legal means, studies indicate that over 80,000 undergo illegal surgeries to provide the commodity annually (Martin et al., 2019). Subsequently, product scarcity has forced most people to resort to inequitable therapeutic approaches of illegal organ transplants. The result of such resolution has always been suffering, high cost, and premature death among the members of society. The process mainly involves clinicians, intermediaries, and even state officials in India, America, and developing nations. The highly risky-linked network has caused most people across the globe to suffer and die due to their interest in making money while transplanting organs. In other words, selling organs can be considered sacrificing the cherished principle of maleficence in medicine. It creates a scenario where people may question whether others have the right to enjoy life while others suffer. This paper aims to argue out the main reasons for the increasing trend, propose possible solutions to the challenge and justify why there is a need to reduce the cases in society. The paper will present a strong position to show audience the dangers of the practice and the right solutions to help in curbing the issue of organ sales.
Reasons why the Problem Needs to be Solved
One of the most conspicuous arguments against the practice is its ability to exploit the poor as sellers. Research studies suggest that economically vulnerable members are more likely to sell their organs in the present challenging economic circumstances. These people are considered disparate and may not have alternative sources of income to help sustain their daily operations. Therefore, they are most likely to choose the risk involved in organ sales. Subsequently, it is notable that the poor will suffer as the organs will only be sold to the highest bidder. To trap the potential poor sellers, organ brokers always use dubious means. For example, they offer the sellers around $1150, which they fail to remint in most cases (Ambagtsheer, (2021). In other circumstances, they forge certificates and passports to extort the vulnerable members of the community.
The existing ethical medical considerations continue to prohibit the sale of organs based on the view that they are not a commodity to be bought or sold in the market. Both social, cultural, and religious beliefs confirm that the human body is sacred and should be treated with lots of decorum. This position argues that trade in these body parts is highly exploitative since only the poor and the vulnerable members of society are involved in selling the products (Gillespie et al., 2022). Given the substandard pre-transplant evaluation and inefficient medical equipment, most of these patients suffer many complications during and after the transplant. Finally, most patients are constantly exposed to several risks, including surgical complications, organ rejection, and even death during and after the operations.
One of the significant objections to the act is its irreversible nature. It has been noted that millions of people have physically, emotionally, and socially suffered due to the decision to sell part of their bodies. For example, people who have sold parts of their kidneys have come to regret-particularly after developing certain complications. In some cases, organ donors often feel remorseful and shame, while others undergo immeasurable pain and body damage. Some of them often feel they have sold their soul and precious gift from God (Ambagtsheer, 2021). At some point, these members get depressed to the extent of committing suicide (Martin et al., 2019). Subsequently, members of religious groups such as Muslims often feel offended by mutilating their bodies for money (Martin et al., 2019). These forms of varied damages usually result in pain and sometimes death.
The sale of human organs has been regarded as an approach to lowering people’s dignity. The ethical content within biotechnology stipulates the need to appreciate the true nature of human beings. Essentially, human dignity calls for respect for humanity, their lives, and every aspect that revolves around their nature (Gillespie et al., 2022). In some cases, it calls for caring for the physical body and the unique characteristics possessed by the human form. The virtue calls for care, love, and beneficence to the weak members of the community. By selling the organs, people may fail to consider these critical aspects but continue to make people continue suffering (Carnevali et al., 2022). The matter of payment and selling of these vital organs may result in unnecessary suffering and premature death among the members of society. Therefore, at all costs, these organs should be preserved and provided with the highest respect.
Proposals on Curbing the Practice
Limiting Trade by the Health Care providers
Since organ sale is regarded as a form of human trafficking, this part of the paper proposes a series of initiatives that may help curb the practice in society. First, the medical community should mobilize the best mechanisms that can be used to repudiate organ commercialization (Martin et al., 2019). The initiative will help unify physicians and denounce the practice of organ trade while motivating the government to enhance ethical practices in organ donations. Since the vice still ranks low in most nations, it is the role of the medical community to refrain from the practice while simultaneously offering public awareness of the possible dangers of the practice. The health care providers should be united in fighting against the practice to help reduce the dangers involved. Through the mechanism, they will manage to reduce the cases of organ trade within the community.
Set Laws that Prohibit the Practice
Over the years, the World Health Organization has continued to condemn the practice of organ trafficking. The renowned healthcare institution termed it a way of taking unfair advantage of the poor and vulnerable members of society. Therefore, there is a need to develop laws that will limit and restrict the act of organ sale. For instance, countries such as America have enjoyed peace since passing the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 to help limit organ trafficking (Martin et al., 2019). Such laws can prevent the donation outside of family or people within the donor’s “affection.” Therefore, it will be recommended that nations such as India, Singapore, and Australia adopt such laws to help in reducing the cases of organ trafficking. The government should sensitize the people while simultaneously providing strict measures against those who may violate the law.
Use Alternative Sources of Organs
Scientific research studies have proved beyond reasonable doubt that other organ sources can be ideally used to solve the problem. Experimental works have created organs and tissues that do not require human beings to donate. Surprisingly, pigs and humans have similarly shaped organs and can operate effectively. There is a need to use these organs as alternative sources (Bastani, 2020). The animal body parts can be transplanted into primates and provide positive results. With the recent improvement of gene editing, organs such as heart function may be extended for more than a year. In late 2019, the first transfer of tissues from pigs to humans was approached (Martin et al., 2019). The practice has gained momentum across the globe and can be viewed as one of the perfect solutions to the challenge.
There is a need for medical practitioners to promote tissue engineering. The approach is used to help reconstruct the tissues that may have been damaged during injury or accident. The process will allow the patient’s tissue to be implanted at the site of damage without requiring another organ. With 3D technology, physicians can carry out the process perfectly and ensure that human beings regain their strength without causing third-party damage (Mastrangeli et al., 2019). Finally, stem cells need to be promoted into the body to help differentiate and result in new organs. The approach is believed to be one of the most developed strategies to curb the challenge, resulting in perfect organ function.
Justification of the Strategies
Organ trafficking is an undeniable global problem that requires the above-proposed solutions. The main reason for providing the above solutions is the increasing number of people who require transplants against the few vulnerable donors. In most cases, poor, uneducated people from vulnerable families are scammed into selling their organs. Surprisingly, the entire procedure is sometimes carried out in an unprofessional manner using inefficient machines, thus risking these people’s lives. Therefore, changing the approach and enforcing the recommendations are necessary. First, there is a need to set laws and international agreements that limit the application of the black market. Second, there is a need to develop alternative, approved, and accepted forms of treatment, such as stem cells and tissue engineering. The application of the above alternative sources will help to reduce the chances of risks that are posed by organ transplants. Finally, healthcare practitioners must work together to fight against organ sales. They must sensitize society to the dangers of the practice as well as provide alternative approaches that may be used. They must also fail to take an active part in any form of illegal body parts transplants. The application of such principles will help to reduce the cases and ensure that people use alternative means.
Conclusion
Notably, it is clear that as the number of people waiting for organ transplants continues to increase, so do the cases of sale for the same product. This trend implies that the number of vulnerable people to cases of organ sale may continue to increase in the future. Consequently, it may continue to result in the black market, suffering, and death of innocent people across the globe. Therefore, there is a need to implement suitable alternatives that will help to limit the challenges. These alternatives include setting the right laws, sensitizing the public, and using alternative approaches to organ transplants. Applying these principles will help reduce the cases and provide some of the most decent means of dealing with the challenge. Thus the global community should see the need and work towards employing the recommendations.
References
Ambagtsheer, F. (2021). Understanding the challenges to investigating and prosecuting organ trafficking: a comparative analysis of two cases. Trends in Organized Crime, 1-28. Web.
Bastani, B. (2020). The present and future of transplant organ shortage: some potential remedies. Journal of nephrology, 33(2), 277–288. Web.
Carnevali, E., Severini, S., Margiotta, G., Onofri, M., Gambelunghe, C., Carlini, L., & Bacci, M. (2022). Establishing a missing person DNA Biobank as a form of human rights protection. Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark, 27(2), 47. Web.
Gillespie, R. (2022). What money cannot buy and what money ought not buy: Dignity, motives, and markets in human organ procurement debates. In Queer Interventions in Biomedicine and Public Health (pp. 101-116). Springer, Cham. Web.
Martin, D. E., Van Assche, K., Domínguez-Gil, B., López-Fraga, M., Gallont, R. G., Muller, E., & Capron, A. M. (2019). Strengthening global efforts to combat organ trafficking and transplant tourism: implications of the 2018 edition of the Declaration of Istanbul. Transplantation direct, 5(3). Web.
Mastrangeli, M., Millet, S., & van den Eijnden-van Raaij, J. (2019). Organ-on-chip in development: towards a roadmap for organs-on-chip. Web.