Monday, June 30, 2008
organ trading
s 14(2) of the human organ transplant act states that any person who enters into a contract for the sale of organs shall be guilty of an offense, liable upon conviction to a fine up to 10k, imprisonment up to a year or both. which is exactly the charge that the chairman of ck tang is facing now.
my initial reaction to organ trading is that of revulsion. why should the rich, who are already privileged in so many other ways, be able to receive organs at the expense of poor folk? allowing organ trading only leaves the poor to be exploited, for they are the ones who would be selling their organs and incurring the risk of infection from the operation, just so they can earn some money to live a better life. leaving things to the mechanics of market forces, we would soon see a majority of people from third world nations having only one kidney.
but perhaps i’m being too biased against the wealthy. i’ve never hid my distaste for the haughty rich, some who have done nothing in their lives to be proud of. some not even worthy of their wealth ‘cos they inherited it and never did a day of honest work. i'm left-leaning.
but when things are looked at from another angle, perhaps a market for organs isn’t such an evil after all. such a market would only benefit all parties – the economic theory of contract posits that a successful transaction leaves both sides happier. the donee gets his transplant; the donor gets his money.
what is needed of course, is for the authorities to regulate such a market. the donor would get a fixed price for his kidney, say, 20k, be informed of all the risks. the kidney goes into a pool where the transplant is made for the first suitable patient in queue. rich dun get to jump queue. rich pays 200k for the transplant, while the poor pays 0.
everybody’s happier. no?
s 14(2) of the human organ transplant act states that any person who enters into a contract for the sale of organs shall be guilty of an offense, liable upon conviction to a fine up to 10k, imprisonment up to a year or both. which is exactly the charge that the chairman of ck tang is facing now.
my initial reaction to organ trading is that of revulsion. why should the rich, who are already privileged in so many other ways, be able to receive organs at the expense of poor folk? allowing organ trading only leaves the poor to be exploited, for they are the ones who would be selling their organs and incurring the risk of infection from the operation, just so they can earn some money to live a better life. leaving things to the mechanics of market forces, we would soon see a majority of people from third world nations having only one kidney.
but perhaps i’m being too biased against the wealthy. i’ve never hid my distaste for the haughty rich, some who have done nothing in their lives to be proud of. some not even worthy of their wealth ‘cos they inherited it and never did a day of honest work. i'm left-leaning.
but when things are looked at from another angle, perhaps a market for organs isn’t such an evil after all. such a market would only benefit all parties – the economic theory of contract posits that a successful transaction leaves both sides happier. the donee gets his transplant; the donor gets his money.
what is needed of course, is for the authorities to regulate such a market. the donor would get a fixed price for his kidney, say, 20k, be informed of all the risks. the kidney goes into a pool where the transplant is made for the first suitable patient in queue. rich dun get to jump queue. rich pays 200k for the transplant, while the poor pays 0.
everybody’s happier. no?