Transplantation Medicine

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Abstract

In the modern world, the transplanting of organs, tissues, and cells is unanimously recognized as an effective therapeutic to combat several grave pathologies. Thanks to transplants, thousands of people are saved throughout the world every year, people who would otherwise have been unable to survive or who would have had their quality of life greatly compromised. Nevertheless, and while promising, there is a, literally, fatal discrepancy between the large number of patients waiting for transplants and the scarcity of organ availability. This discrepancy constitutes the most prominent problem associated with transplants and has as such driven the establishment of various measures that allow for an increasing number of donors while maintaining accordance with the concept of donating being a free and conscious act. This entry will begin by exploring the scope and limitations of medical transplants and will continue to cover the various stages that have lent support both to the arguments in favor of organs being taken postmortem and the arguments for them being taken from the living. In conclusion, the entry will explore aspects of human transplants that are having an increasing impact on a global scale, namely, transplant tourism and the commercialization of organs.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEncyclopedia of Global Bioethics
EditorsHenk ten Have
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer
Pages1-11
Number of pages12
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-05544-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • transplantation
  • postmortem donation
  • waiting list
  • living donation
  • transplant tourism

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