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Britons are being asked if people should get cash incentives to donate eggs and sperm, and whether the funeral expenses of organ donors should be paid in a bid to address a severe shortage. |
Britons are being asked if people should get cash incentives to donate eggs and sperm, and whether the funeral expenses of organ donors should be paid in a bid to address a severe shortage. The medical ethics think-tank, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics has launched a public consultation to look at whether people think it is right that donors should receive payments or other incentives to meet a growing demand. Currently, paying people to donate most organs, beyond offering modest expenses, is illegal in Britain. About 8,000 people need an organ transplant in Britain each year and hundreds die waiting for a suitable donor. The organ shortage has forced many to seek treatment overseas. A change in the law in 2005, which removed donors' right to anonymity has led to a sharp fall in the number of donations. Britain has one of the lowest rates of organ donation, at just 13 per million of population compared with 35 per million in Spain where a "presumed consent" system operates, which effectively make everyone a potential donor unless they choose to opt out. The Council said incentives could be non-financial, such as offering letters of thanks, T-shirts, mugs or vouchers, or allowing future donors to jump the queue for transplants should they later need one. "We also need to think about the morality of pressing people to donate their bodily material," Strathern said. "Offering payment or other incentives may encourage people to take risks or go against their beliefs in a way they would not have otherwise done." In 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not rule out bringing in a "presumed consent" plan for organ donation. However the Organ Donation Taskforce said that evidence from across the world indicated that such a plan would not improve donation rates. In January, a study by fertility experts found that a drastic lack of sperm donors meant women wanting babies were resorting to importing semen from abroad or using do-it-yourself insemination kits bought on the Internet. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily website.) |
日前,英國開展了一項(xiàng)有關(guān)器官捐獻(xiàn)的調(diào)查。該調(diào)查旨在了解公眾對(duì)于卵子和精子捐獻(xiàn)者是否應(yīng)獲得現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)以及是否應(yīng)為器官捐獻(xiàn)者支付葬禮費(fèi)用等問題的看法,以解決該國器官捐獻(xiàn)嚴(yán)重短缺的狀況。 英國醫(yī)學(xué)倫理智囊機(jī)構(gòu)紐菲爾德生命倫理委員會(huì)日前發(fā)起了一項(xiàng)公眾征詢活動(dòng),調(diào)查英國民眾如何看待用現(xiàn)金補(bǔ)償及其它激勵(lì)方式鼓勵(lì)人們捐獻(xiàn)器官以滿足不斷增長(zhǎng)的需求。目前在英國,在支付必要合理的費(fèi)用之外,花錢進(jìn)行器官交易的做法是違法的。 英國每年約有八千人需要接受器官移植,很多人因等不到合適的捐獻(xiàn)者而死去。器官短缺迫使很多人去國外就醫(yī)。2005年的一項(xiàng)取消捐獻(xiàn)者匿名權(quán)的法案更是讓器官捐獻(xiàn)人數(shù)大幅減少。 英國是全世界器官捐獻(xiàn)率最低的國家,100萬人中僅有13人捐獻(xiàn),而在西班牙,每100萬人有35人捐獻(xiàn)。西班牙實(shí)行的是一套“假定同意”的器官捐贈(zèng)制度,有效地保證每個(gè)人都是潛在的捐獻(xiàn)者,除非你提出不同意捐獻(xiàn)。 紐菲爾德生命倫理委員會(huì)器官捐獻(xiàn)調(diào)查小組主席瑪麗蓮?斯特拉斯恩教授說:“我們可以通過采用現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)、支付葬禮費(fèi)用或讓捐獻(xiàn)人獲得器官移植優(yōu)先權(quán)等更為強(qiáng)有力的激勵(lì)手段來鼓勵(lì)器官捐獻(xiàn),但這樣做是否合乎倫理呢?” 該機(jī)構(gòu)稱,除金錢激勵(lì)方式外,還可采用發(fā)感謝信、贈(zèng)送T恤、水杯或購物券以及讓捐獻(xiàn)人獲得器官移植優(yōu)先權(quán)等非經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激方式。 斯特拉斯恩說:“我們還要考慮鼓勵(lì)人們捐贈(zèng)身體器官是否符合道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。提供補(bǔ)貼及其它激勵(lì)方式可能會(huì)讓人們?nèi)ッ半U(xiǎn)行事或違背自己的信仰去做自己本不愿意做的事。” 英國首相戈登?布朗于2008年表示,不排除政府會(huì)采用“假定同意”器官捐獻(xiàn)方案的可能。然而器官捐獻(xiàn)調(diào)查小組稱,世界上其他國家的證據(jù)表明這樣的方案并不能有效提高捐獻(xiàn)率。 今年1月,生育專家開展的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn),由于極度缺乏精子捐獻(xiàn)者,想要孩子的女性不得不去國外找精子,或者從網(wǎng)上購買“自助式”人工授精工具自行解決。 相關(guān)閱讀: 英國:推特用戶創(chuàng)作新版莎翁名著 (中國日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 蔡姍姍 編輯:馮明惠) |