Mr. Michael S. Macugay
ENGLCOM
August 11, 2014
Saving Lives Is More than Just Medications If someone close to your heart is faced with a life or death situation, would you do everything to help him or her? Certainly, it would be a yes. Close to a million of people are dying every year because of insufficient number of donated organs to be transplanted. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals in need of life-saving organ transplants, but the wait list is so long. That is why human organ sales must be legalized worldwide. It will not only increase the amount of organs donated that will escalate the possibility of saving lives, but it will also eliminate the black market or underground economy by having faster transaction because of nearer sources. The shortage of transplant organs is a major problem is beyond dispute. In 2008, a UK report published notes that from 2006-2007 more than 3,000 European patients received an organ transplant, however, the other 1,000 patients died because they had become too ill while waiting. They say that the total average of waiting time for an organ transplant in UK is almost three years. The national waiting list reached 7,235 and increased by 8% each year. Similarly, about 120,000 patients are on the waiting list in the US. However, in 2012, there were only 14,013 organ donors and 28,052 subsequent transplant procedures. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that in 2010, a total of 106,879 organs were transplanted to patients globally – fulfilling only about 10% of the requirement. In other words, legalizing the sale of human organs will save lives because it will completely eliminate the shortage of transplant organs. It will not only increase the number of organs donated, but also have faster transaction because of nearer sources. Hence, legalizing the sale of human organs will increase the possibility of saving more people’s lives.
Illegal organ trafficking and transplantation tourism is
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