Indian Transplant Newsletter Vol. II Issue NO.: 7 (Jan-Mar 2001)
Print ISSN 0972 - 1568

Mexican Government Considering Presumed Consent System



Print ISSN 0972 - 1568
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Could “Presumed Consent” be the answer to Mexico’s abysmally low organ donation rates?

The policy in existence since 1984 is one of “Informed Consent”. It  is estimated that about  1,000 organ transplants are performed annually, but the waiting list in this country of approximately 95 million people exceeds 100,000.Each year only 1000 kidney transplants are performed while another 5000 patients are added to the waiting list. By comparison the waiting list (for all types of transplants) in the U.S, whose population is 3 times larger, is about 70,000. Lack of public education and cultural reluctance to organ donation has resulted in the shortage of organs.

People in favour of “presumed consent” (whereby all Mexicans would legally be deemed organ donors unless they sign forms stating they do not wish their organs removed when they die) say that the lack of organs has created an underground market for kidneys. Under the new legislation, all organ donations would be monitored by a national transplant registry to prevent fraud and there would be strict penalties for illegal organ dealing. Critics of the proposed policy say that it would violate privacy by making organ donation an obligation instead of a voluntary gesture. There is also the fear of government corruption and the country’s high illiteracy rate resulting in many citizens becoming donors, unwittingly. For now, the measure seem to have wide spread backing from the medical, political and religious communities .But the debate still goes on.


To cite : Shroff S, Navin S. Mexican Government Considering Presumed Consent System. .
Available at:
https://www.itnnews.co.in/indian-transplant-newsletter/issue7/MEXICAN-GOVERNMENT-CONSIDERING-PRESUMED-CONSENT-SYSTEM-734.htm

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