Organ donor incentives - public to have a say
Cash incentives and funeral expenses are two ideas being put forward to help encourage people to donate human organs and tissue.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is seeking the public's views on whether it is ethical to use financial incentives to increase donations of organs, eggs and sperm.
The public consultation will last 12 weeks and the findings will be made public in Autumn 2011.
As well as cash payments and funeral costs, other ideas include priority for the donor if they require a transplant later in life, the payment of more generous expenses and the sending of certificates or "thank you" letters to the donor or donor's family.
Demand for organ donors has increased in recent years and now far exceeds supply. This is due to an ageing population and improvements in medicine that mean more people could benefit from transplants.
Demand for sperm and egg donations has also risen due to new treatments and procedures to help infertility.
The council's chairperson, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern, is keen to explore all the issues involved in responding to the increasing demand for orgon donors and sperm and egg donations.
Each year, 1,000 people in the UK die while waiting for transplants. There are currently about 8,000 people waiting for a life saving transplant, but in 2009 there were only 3,500 transplant operations.
There is also demand for approximately 1,200 more egg donors and 500 more sperm donors. Scientists also need people to donate human tissue for research.
The consultation will look at all kinds of donation including whole organs, blood, skin, corneas, bone, sperm, eggs and embryos, as well as clinical trials that test the safety of new medicines.
The aim is to bring all donations under one ethical framework.
In response to the consultation paper, Joyce Robins, co-director of the campaigning group Patient Concern, complained that there was no patient representative on the working party. She also questioned whether the question of paying for donation of eggs, sperm and organs was even a priority in the current financial climate.
"The idea of paying living donors for organs is abhorrent as this would be tempting the poor to risk their lives.
"Offers of payment to the family of someone who has just died could tempt them to go against the wishes of their loved ones at a time when they are most vulnerable," she said.
Daniel was lucky to have received two transplants in his short lifetime. As Daniel's family we will always be grateful to two very special families who gave Daniel such an incredible gift. Raising awareness of the need for more people to sign the Organ Donor Register is very important to us.
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