Organ donation p.

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Outline:

Theses statement:

Is organ donation something usual in the Lebanese society?

I- Introduction :

a. Background information

b. Significance of the problem

c. Definition of the terms

II- How does it work :

a. Who can donate?

b. Process

III- Discussion :

a. Religious view

b. Ethical view

IV- Conclusion :

V- Annex :

VI- References :
 Organ donation p.3

I- Introduction :

a. Background information

Organ donation is a process consisting in transferring trough a transplantation surgery

an organ from a human being to another. Pioneering researches on human transplantation

were made by the French physician Alexis Carrel in the 18th century earning him a Nobel prize in

1912 in “Physiology or Medicine”. Yet the first successful organ transplantation was made in

1954 by the Dr. Joseph Murray transferring a kidney between two twins. As years went by more

and more transplantations were successful leading to our world where it has become a

common procedure.

b. Significance of the problem

As the success rates of theses surgeries constantly increase the only limiting factor to

one’s survival is the number of compatible organ donor. Therefore a natural question anyone

should ask himself is if he is going to contribute to that organization or not; is he an organ

donor or not. Thus I wanted to check how the situation in Lebanon is. And in order to

comprehend everyone’s choice I wanted to understand how does a transplantation work.

c. Definition of the terms

Transplantation is operation consisting of moving an organ from a donor to a recipient

 Organ donation p.4

HIV is a human immunodeficiency virus causing AIDS.

Cancer is a disease in which a group of cells divides beyond the normal, invasion and

destroying adjacent tissues and sometimes spreading to other places of the body
 Organ donation p.5

II- How does it work :

a. Who can donate?

Everyone is a potential organ donor and should consider himself as one. There is only

little direct exclusion such as being HIV positive, having an active Cancer or systemic infections.

No one is too old or too young to young to be an organ donor, there are many young people in

need of an organ small enough to enter their body and a 60 years old can have organs in a

better condition that a 35 years old furthermore there might be people on the waiting list

whose life would be saved by an organ in a less than perfect condition if there is no other

“better” one. Even if you have a medical condition you may still donate your organs; the

medical team in charge will base its decision on many factors when time arises.

b. Process

The first step in organ transplantation is a patient’s need of an organ. This patient would

register on a national waiting list for organ transplantation with basic information required such

as his blood type, his age and body mass. Then a donor must be found. There are three types of

donors: the cerebral death donor, the cardiac death donor and the living donor. Cerebral death

usually occurs in accidents including head trauma causing one’s brain to stop working while the

rest of his body is still alive. Cardiac death donors usual are people under life supporting

machines doing the heart’s work, they cannot be pronounced brain dead but they will be
 Organ donation p.6

unplugged after the patient’s family decided so. Living donors are people willing to give away

one of their not essential organs out of good will after getting to know the risk they are taking.
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III- Discussion :

a. Religious view

All the main religions present in Lebanon completely agree with organ donation

considering it as an act of charity and therefore greatly encouraging it. Muslims agree with

human transplantation as long as it is used to save human lives, while the pope John Paul II

declared that "The Catholic Church would promote the fact that there is a need for organ

donors and that Christians should accept this as a “challenge to their generosity and fraternal

love” so long as ethical principles are followed."

b. Ethical view

In order to understand what the Lebanese population thought about transplantation I

decided to make an investigation asking people in Downtown Beirut their opinion. I asked

randomly 10 men and 10 women three questions: “Would you agree to receive an organ from

someone else if you were in need?”, “Would you agree to give your organs after your death?”

and asked to whom answered yes to the preceding question “Are you registered as an organ

donor?” Even if the people that can be found a Saturday night in downtown Beirut aren’t a

good representation of the general Lebanese population, the results aren’t less significant.

(Annex 1 and 2)
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Even though the interrogated pedestrians didn’t give a particular reason for their

choice, we can clearly see that the Lebanese population is mainly reticent to donate organs but

isn’t against the whole idea of transplantation as long as it doesn’t concern their organs.
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IV- Conclusion

The organ transplantation technique is widely used in Lebanon. The system currently in

place for organ donations is functional and saves lives of many Lebanese. Nevertheless we can

conclude that it is not a familiar idea in people’s mind. I personally think that organ donation

should be considered by everyone no matter what their age is. Nowadays many researches are

conducted to overwhelm organ shortages for transplantations; one of these is the use of stem

cells, they would be taken from an embryo then reinserted when in need to grow a new organ.
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V- Annex :

VI- References :
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Web pages used:

 http://www.cfireland.ie

 organdonor.gov/

 www.donatelife.net

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_donation

 www.uktransplant.org.uk

 www.mayoclinic.com/health/organ-donation/FL00077

 transplantforlife.org

 ehow.com

 ntuforex.blogspot.com

 telegraph.co.uk