Shunning Organ Donations Hurts Society as a Whole

Shunning Organ Donations Hurts Society as a Whole

Updated Jan.20,2009 08:53 KST

In Spain, when an accident victim is pronounced brain dead, doctors immediately begin preparing for organ transplant surgery. Doctors firstly check whether the victim is willing to donate their organs and, if no such records exist, turn to family members for approval. The cases of victims with no family members go to a court. According to a royal decree made in 2000, Spanish physicians interpret a lack of a clear disapproval as an affirmative response to organ donation.

Spain's population of 43 million is around 6 million fewer than Korea's. But last year, 1,400 instances of organ donation came from people who had suffered brain deaths, which is 10 times more than the 148 Korean cases over the same period. From every million people in Spain, 35 donated their organs, far more than the 3.1 per million in Korea. The secret to Spain’s success is not only the royal decree, but also a system that screens out potential donors and encourages donation. Each hospital employs a doctor and nurse charged with persuading victims' families to choose donation -- and 80 percent of families are said to agree.

There are three types of organ donation: donation after brain death, donation after cardiac arrest and donations by living people. In cases involving brain death, kidneys, lungs and corneas are donated to two people, while the liver, pancreas, heart, and lungs can bring new lives to as many as 11 recipients. In cases of cardiac arrest, only the corneas can be transplanted. In cases of living donation, one kidney and portions of the liver and pancreas can be donated.

Korea's first official case of organ donation happened in 2000, when a man in his 30s who had collapsed after a cerebral hemorrhage, donated his heart, liver and other organs to six recipients.

There are 18,072 patients in Korea desperately waiting for organ donors. The longest waiting list is for kidneys, followed by livers, bone marrow, corneas, pancreas, hearts and lungs. Patients must wait six years for a liver, four years and four months for lungs and three years and 10 months for a heart. Patients who received organs last year had to wait an average of 375 days. The Korean Network for Organ Sharing says the number of people who have voiced their willingness to donate their organs fell from around 130,000 in 2006 to around 90,000 last year and continues to decrease.

The application process for organ donors is complicated. In the United States, drivers receiving licenses are asked if they wish to become organ donors and their response is printed under their I.D. cards. Korea implemented this system in September of last year, but only 18,000 signed up. Aside from cases of organ donations among family members, authorities require donors to even submit records of personal assets, in order to prevent the illegal sale of organs for profit. People who have donated their organs have a hard time getting insurance coverage. We desperately need a society-wide effort and the creation of a comprehensive system that encourages organ donation.

This column was contributed by Chosun Ilbo in-house columnist Kim Dong-seop.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200901/200901200005.html