Interconnected, inhabited and insecure: why bodies should not be property

The debate in Chile on organ donation revisited

The worldwide scarcity of cadaveric organs for transplants is on the rise, due in part to extended medical indications and longevity of chronic patients with organic insufficiencies. Chile has an extremely low donor rate of 6.7 per million. Although consent is presumed by law, and recently amended to include a “reciprocity principle”, nearly four million persons have expressed in writing their unwillingness to donate and, of those remaining, 53% of families have rejected donating the organs of their deceased. New proposals are urgently needed, even if some of them have previously been rejected: nonmaterial incentives, partial donations and unveiling anonymity to enhance personal ties between donors and recipients. Transparency, information and assistance are to be reinforced in order to regain trust in transplant procedures.