Preventing Commercial Transactions in Human Organs and Tissues: An International Overview of Regulatory and Administrative Measures

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has had a long and continuing interest in organ transplantation legislation since 1948 (the year WHO’s Constitution came into force), when a brief summary of what may well have been the first item of national legislation on the subject, a French Decree of 20 October 1947, was reported in the first issue of the International Digest of Health Legislation ¹. In 1969, WHO published a survey of legislation on the subject [2] which noted, inter alia, that the Italian Law of 26 June 1967 appeared to be the first statute to address the issue of commerce (it prohibited any form of reward or compensation for living kidney donors). Since then, WHO’s Health Legislation unit, and its counterparts in WHO’s six regional offices, have monitored both national and related international developments. Thus, at the 1989 Ottawa Congress (cited elsewhere in this volume) Fuenzalida-Puelma provided a comprehensive overview of key aspects of the legislation in this area in Latin America [3]. Noting that “the key to organ shortage does not lie in commercialization”, he pointed to legal difficulties that may not be limited to that subcontinent. A particularly apposite comment by Gerson is cited:

Ultimately, the potential for organ transplantation will depend not only on advanced medical technology, but also on progress in the legal technology of organ donation [4].

Except where clearly indicated, any views expressed are not necessarily those of the World Health Organization. The author alone is responsible for any errors, omissions, or misinterpretations.