Recently, students Carmen Pulice and Maya Najm presented to their English class over the injustices of the organ donation system. Here are some of the key notes and facts that they brought up:
Injustices
-(UNOS) divided the country into 11 different sections in which organs can be transplanted.
-"Transplant tourism" is a term used to describe how wealthier people travel abroad for a new organ. Americans who can’t afford to do this, and who live in an organ-starved region, are left to wait—and often die waiting on the waiting list.
-Lower class people, who need an organ more desperately waiting on the transplant list while others receive the organ
Organizations Supporting Organ Donation and Spreading Awareness
Donate Life America is a nonprofit organization leading its national partners and Donate Life State Teams to increase the number of donated organs, eyes and tissues available to save and heal lives through transplantation while developing a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility. They encourage the public to register as organ, eye and tissue donors; provides education about living donation; manages the National Donate Life Registry. Over the past 30 years, Donate Life America and the Donate Life Community have registered 170 Million organ, eye and tissue donors in the United States.
Works Cited
Chestercountyhospital.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.chestercountyhospital.org/news/health-eliving-blog/2021/april/register-as-an-organ-donor
Cotrau, P., Hodosan, V., Vladu, A., Daina, C., Daina, L. G., & Pantis, C. (2019, March). Ethical, socio-cultural and religious issues in organ donation. Maedica. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6511665/
Home. Organ Donation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://cmpulice2005.wixsite.com/organdonation
How many lives can one organ donor affect? | UPMC HealthBeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://share.upmc.com/2015/04/the-impact-of-one-organ-donor/
Mission & Vision. Donate Life America. (2022, March 7). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.donatelife.net/mission-vision/#:~:text=Donate%20Life%20America%20is%20a,embraced%20as%20a%20fundamental%20human
Mullen, J. (2022, November 29). How our organ transplant system fails people of color. AAMC. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-our-organ-transplant-system-fails-people-color
Najm, M. (2022, June 21). The Organ Donation Process. Organ Donation Heroes. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.organdonationheroes.com/post/the-organ-donation-process
Office of Minority Health. Organ Donation and African Americans - The Office of Minority Health. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=27