Tokyo, July 14: Japan lifted a ban on organ donations from children, reversing a restriction that created such a dearth of small organs in the country that young patients were forced to seek transplants abroad.
The law will allow children, defined as those under 15, who are brain dead to donate their organs — a sea change in this country, where organ donation is sensitive because of Buddhist beliefs that consider the body sacred and reject its desecration.
Until 1997, Japan barred organ donations from even adults who were brain dead. A law enacted that year lifted the ban but continued to prohibit children from donating, citing their inability to make such a mature decision. It also only authorized organs to be taken from patients who specifically gave their consent — contributing to a severe shortage in the country.
The law passed on Monday will give relatives the authority to consent to donations in cases where the patient’s own intentions were unclear, according to the document, which was posted on the legislature’s Web site. It will take effect in the summer of 2010, a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
The new law brings Japan more in line with World Health Organization guidelines, though it still places more restrictions than some countries that consider consent for organ donation the default in the absence of specific instructions that the body be left intact.
The reform was expedited this year after the Japanese branch of the international Transplantation Society adopted the group’s policy calling for every country to achieve organ self-sufficiency in a move to reduce “transplant tourism.” Several countries, including Germany, have rejected Japanese patients seeking transplants there.
–Agencies