澳大利亞一腎病專家5日建議合法化人體器官買賣，以解決腎源不足和黑市買賣問題。這一提議引發倫理爭議。

An Australian kidney specialist sparked national debate yesterday by suggesting the government should pay up to 50,000 Australian dollars ($47,000) for kidney donations to overcome a chronic shortage.

Gavin Carney said eliminating a law that prohibits the selling of organs would save thousands of lives and billions of dollars (euros) in care for patients on organ waiting lists. He also said it would stop people from going to Third World countries and paying forblack-market organs and risky, unregulated surgeries.

Australia has one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the developed world, about 10 donors per 1 million people, according to a federal health task force.

"We've tried everything to drum up support for organ donation and the rates have not risen in 10 years," Carney was quoted as saying in Fairfax newspapers. "People just don't seem to be willing to give their organs away for free. ... Let's pay people some money for a new car or a house deposit and those waiting lists will be halved within about five years."

Carney, a professor at the Australian National University, could not immediately be reached. Carney's proposal was immediately criticized by transplant groups, who fear it would exploit poor people.

The idea was quashed by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, who said Australians would not be allowed to market their organs. "But we do know that we need urgent action in this area of organ donation," Roxon told Australia Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Rather than paying people for organs, Roxon said her ministry would act on some of the recommendations of a federal task force that recently completed a review of the organ donation system.

The task force attributed Australia's low organ donor rate to a decrease in road accidents and strokes, lack of public awareness, and poor identification of donors in hospitals, among other factors. In comparison, Germany has 15 donors per 1 million people, the Netherlands has 25, the United States has 27, and Spain has 35, it said.

Selling or buying organs is illegal in Australia, as in most countries, and carries a penalty of six months in jail and a fine of up to A$4,400 (US$4,130).

More than 1,800 people are waiting for kidney transplants in the country but only 343 kidneys were donated last year, Fairfax reported. Transplant Australia said the average wait for a kidney transplant is four years.

Transplant Australia chief executive Chris Thomas said his organization rejects paying for organs and instead is working with the government to change the donation system. He said Carney's proposal would leave poor people vulnerable.

"It really focuses on the poor and people who are least able to pay for things in society. They get attracted to these types of things," he told ABC Radio. "We'd reject that."

Kidney Health Australia also rejected Carney's proposal, saying it would be open to "many ethical issues and abuse".

"In my opinion it is inappropriate for the Australian medical system to consider, and is counter to the Australian culture," KHA medical director Tim Mathew opined.

(Agencies/China Daily)

Vocabulary:

black-market：在黑市交易

 

(英語點津Celene編輯)