On Mon, 18 Feb 2002 13:30:36 -0800 Alex Tabarrok <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> My view is that the key issue is > *not* the supply of organs per-se but rather the *supply of people who > sign their organ donor cards*. Take care of this and the other problems > are of second-order. There are a couple of countries in Europe that use an opt-out system in stead of an opt-in system when it comes to organ donation. In Belgium every person is a potential donor unless he/she carries a "non donor" card. In some other countries citizens don't even get a choice. If I'm not mistaken a persons's body reverts to the state upon death in some countries, like Austria. Civil liberty issues aside this does make some countries net exporters of organs. Which is odd in a way, as nobody seems to object to trade in organs when it's performed by official institutions. But this does show that just increasing the supply of potential donors might largely alleviate the problem. On way of accomplishing without raising civil liberty issues would be to send everyone a form with the kind request to sign it and send it back, unless one objects to donating organs. Reduce the amount of effort to become a Donor to the minimum ad many more people wil become donors. This worked to a certain extent in The Netherlands. THe proplem here is now not so much a shortage of organs, but a shortage of surgeons and operating facilities... But that's a different story. Krist -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Krist van Besien [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Krist van Besien [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet technology consultant tel: +31-6-50235002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
