Benefits of Organ Donation Essay

The advancement in medical practices has had an incredible progress in saving human lives. Organ transplant is one of such medical innovations that give hope to millions of people through organ donation. Death is an inevitable factor of life that is imminent to each and every person around the globe. However, the prospect of death remains unknown and can often be tragic to some people. As a result, death is an unknown factor that instills the fear of dying in an individual or person. Terminal diseases and tragic accidents are some of the leading causes of deaths, in which they are invariably out of control. Therefore, it becomes a personal or family choice to offer life, the greatest gift to another person. In the aftermath, organ donation spares the lives of many and has truly become a gift that continues life for another even if it means the end of life for the donor. Nevertheless, healthy organs are not easy to get. According to 2017 US data, there were 122,000 people on the organ waiting lists (Flescher 34). Each organ has its own waiting list but with a common characteristic. There are far more people on the waiting list than there are donors. On average, 110 people are added on the organ waiting list daily while 21 die while on the organ donation waiting list (Flescher 36). With this note, organ donation is, therefore, an important medical breakthrough that has the potential to save thousands of lives. The aim of the paper is to analyze the benefits of organ donation while at the same time exploring the counterarguments and the ethical issues involved.

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Organ donation has the potential of saving thousands of lives. There are thousands of people on the organ donation waiting list and with one donor, eight lives can be saved. The human body has eight organs that can be donated and include the heart, 2 lungs, liver, pancreas, 2 kidneys, and small intestines. A donor who has reached the end of life, for instance through brain-death, heart failure or tragic accident has the potential of donating the organs for transplant to people in need of specific organs. Apart from organs, tissues such as the eyes, skin, bone marrow, bones (tendons and cartilages) can be donated to improve the lives of people in need. It is sad that 21 people die on a daily basis while waiting for an organ transplant because the supply of donors is limited while the demand for organs is on the rise (Flescher). Such people die because there is little medical practitioners can do to save their lives without available organ donors. However, with available donors, organs can be matched to those in need. Therefore, if one person's end of life means the sustenance of life for countless others, then it means that organ donation is very essential in life. Furthermore, the donation does not need to be in case of a critical clinical condition. Live donations have also been on the rise where people willingly consent to donate part of their organs to save their loved ones. In other cases, some people sign a medical consent form that is highly confidential stating that their organs should be donated upon their death (Healey 70). Such actions indicate that organ donation is fundamental in saving the lives of people in need. Therefore, organ donation saves lives by improving the quality of life. For instance, an organ transplant means some people do not need to go through the costly routine medical treatments to survive. In others tissue donation such as an eye means they gain the ability to see again and are relieved for pain.

Organ donation helps in the grieving process by offering consolation to a family. However, one of the greatest barriers to organ donation is the lack of family consent in countries across the world such as the US and UK. For instance, the family consent rate is 60% and 54% in the UK and US respectively (Chkhotua 1793). As such, approaching a family grieving the loss of a loved one, for instance in cases of brain-death, may require families to make hard decisions in distressing situations. Family consent is even worse in cases of conflict where there lacks rapport with healthcare institutions. For example, when the request for donation is ill-timed or when family members are dissatisfied with care. Nevertheless, in spite of such barriers, literature has found that organ donation provides family consolation. Even though it is difficult for family members to consent, they find joy in knowing that their loved ones help save the lives of others. In other words, they view it as the continuation of life in another person. Since a single donor can save up to eight lives, donating tissue could also improve the lives of 50 people (Healey 67). A family finds closure and consolation by knowing that the precious life of their loved one was not lost in vain. Furthermore, the donation process connects the bereaved family with individuals saved by the death of their loved one.

Organ donation provides a second chance to people waiting in the transplant list. These people are often on treatment plans that help increase their longevity in life. However, medical care and treatment is an expensive affair because people in critical conditions require constant hospital visits and even hospital admission. Through organ transplant, organs donated help such people to relatively live a normal life devoid of expensive medical treatments (Price & Freeman 58). Furthermore, organ donation is free and the medical cost of the transplant is solely on the recipient. In addition, through live donations, people have the opportunity to see first-hand, the lives of people they have impacted by becoming donors. Living donations are often in times when family members and close friends need an organ transplant. The generosity of organ donation helps other people to live life as they should have. According to biblical teachings, Jesus Christ stated that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Therefore, by extending a helping hand to people in need, through organ donation, restores humanity by extending human actions to the next generation. People given a second chance in life through an organ transplant remain grateful to the donor and wish them well and pray for their continued well-being (Price & Freeman 60). There is also joy by knowing that one positively affected the lives of another.

Organ donation is also beneficial to society due to its altruistic nature. Based on a utilitarian approach to altruism, society and medicine should put human remains to good use. The current scenario of burying and incinerating human bodies after death is an appalling waste of body organs and tissues that can restore health or life while thousands wait for months and even years to get a match for a donor (Aijing et al. 518). The current moral concern has been biased in that it focuses on the dead and their family and has not given a broader approach to recognizing the recipients of organ donation. With this note, organ donation is not only essential in restoring life but also fundamental in contributing to medical research. Some of the organs are not fit for transplant and should be donated to scientific research to aid in the understanding of human anatomy. In particular, donating for medical research is crucial in the comprehension of genetic conditions, diseases, and rarely seen illness (Aijing et al. 519) Therefore, people experiencing certain ailments can help others with the same conditions since medical technology is advancing and gene therapy in the future will help in transplants.

Measures should be placed to ensure constant demand and supply of donors because the demand of organs is greater than the pool of available. Governments and non-profit organization should carry out awareness campaigns to eliminate the existing myths about organ donation and transplant because the overall aim is improving human life. Most importantly, organ donation creates an opportunity to tackle human ailments that lead to loss of life. Life is precious and should be treasured by ensuring that people in dire need receive a transplant when required.

On the contrary, organ donation is also flawed and may extend the grieving period of a family. It is unfortunate that for an organ donation to be a success, the recipient may need an extended life support during a hospital stay. The extended period of recovery prolongs the grieving period because it provides a false sense of hope (Saidi). It is also important to note that organs are not donated unless a patient is pronounced as brain dead. The period of waiting for a donor family may also lead to conflict because they may feel as if the medical facility failed in their job. On the other hand, in the case of living donations, organ donation carries the risks of surgery, anesthesia, infection, and even possible short and long-term complications. Donors should take time while reading the consent form to ensure that they fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Even though it is argued that organ donation is free and the cost burden is transferred to the patient, living donations consume a lot of time and arranging for a donation can take months. The donor may experience time off work or being away to undergo pre-surgery testing, surgery, and recovery. These activities translate to lost income because one could be productive in fulfilling other duties at work. Furthermore, if the donor travels, lodging and travel expenses are not catered for by the recipient. Therefore, organ donation institutions should also consider indirect costs incurred by the donor instead of claiming that donation is free.

Organ donation has created a loophole for exploiting the poor and vulnerable in the society. Transplant tourism is on the rise spearheaded by wealthy westerners who visit countries in Asia, such as Pakistan where commercialization of organ donation is legal. According to a 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) report, 10% of worldwide organ transplant involved transplant tourism where the problem of international trafficking of human organs and tissues exist (Saidi 45). The travel for transplantation involves the movement of donors, organs, recipients and/or transplant professionals across geographic borders, widely renowned as transplant tourism. This form of tourism is different from medical tourism because it involves organ trafficking and commercialization. In the US, it is illegal to sell human organs. Unfortunately, there exist criminal elements or persons that exploit the vulnerable in the society to sell their organs due to poverty (Egendorf). Certain transactions are carried over the internet where donors and recipients can remain anonymous but they promote illegal activities. Unfortunately, transplant tourism prevents access or the availability of deceased organs to the destination country because wealthy tourists receive preferential care. Similarly, transplant tourism denies the development of live donations in the country of the recipient. For example, insurance companies would prefer to send organ recipients to countries such as Pakistan and Philippines where it costs less to carry out a transplant since the donors receive meager payments, an utmost exploitation (Saidi 70).

Likewise, in terms of safety and quality, all human organ transplants are associated with a potential risk to the recipient. The recipient is at risk of unsatisfactory organ function, and most lethal being disease transmission from the donor. Malignancy and infectious disease transmission is the most relevant demerit of organ donation (Egendorf 66). Medical errors could lead to wrong screening results because donors must be screened to know their health status. In some patients with the imminent risk of death, such risks may be acceptable as a better alternative to death, but it only leads to added medical expenditure on the s...