Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?

BACKGROUND: With the increase of the organ shortage, several authors assume that financial incentives would improve organ donation rates and fill the unbalance between the demand and the organs available for transplant medicine. This line of argument has been criticised with people arguing tha...

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Main Authors: F Bosisio, M Santiago, L Benaroyo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) 2011-12-01
Series:Swiss Medical Weekly
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/1402
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author F Bosisio
M Santiago
L Benaroyo
author_facet F Bosisio
M Santiago
L Benaroyo
author_sort F Bosisio
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND: With the increase of the organ shortage, several authors assume that financial incentives would improve organ donation rates and fill the unbalance between the demand and the organs available for transplant medicine. This line of argument has been criticised with people arguing that an exchange of money for organs would violate the legal and the ethical principle of gratuity, decrease voluntarism and increase the body parts commodification phenomena. PURPOSE: Switzerland is often highlighted as having under-average organ donation rates compared to other European countries. In this paper we investigate the opinions of the Vaud French-speaking population concerning direct, indirect and non financial incentives in order to assess their opinions and anticipate the further debate. METHODS: As part of a broad survey about the organ donation decision-making process, questions about incentives for both living and deceased organ donation were addressed to Vaud inhabitants and physicians. RESULTS: The data collected showed that respondents were opposed to rewarding both living and deceased organ donation. The analysis of positive answers showed that indirect and non financial incentives were the most likely choice to acknowledge the donor’s act. People in critical financial situations preferred direct financial incentives. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that altruism and gratuity were key-values in the organ donation and transplantation social perceptions of the respondents. Thus, we assume that introducing financial incentives could tarnish the image of transplant medicine. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to evaluate if their introduction would improve the organ donation rates or decrease voluntarism.
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spelling doaj.art-e792c13269c54400bc93ddb687c920df2024-11-02T11:53:30ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972011-12-01141495010.4414/smw.2011.13312Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?F BosisioM SantiagoL Benaroyo BACKGROUND: With the increase of the organ shortage, several authors assume that financial incentives would improve organ donation rates and fill the unbalance between the demand and the organs available for transplant medicine. This line of argument has been criticised with people arguing that an exchange of money for organs would violate the legal and the ethical principle of gratuity, decrease voluntarism and increase the body parts commodification phenomena. PURPOSE: Switzerland is often highlighted as having under-average organ donation rates compared to other European countries. In this paper we investigate the opinions of the Vaud French-speaking population concerning direct, indirect and non financial incentives in order to assess their opinions and anticipate the further debate. METHODS: As part of a broad survey about the organ donation decision-making process, questions about incentives for both living and deceased organ donation were addressed to Vaud inhabitants and physicians. RESULTS: The data collected showed that respondents were opposed to rewarding both living and deceased organ donation. The analysis of positive answers showed that indirect and non financial incentives were the most likely choice to acknowledge the donor’s act. People in critical financial situations preferred direct financial incentives. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that altruism and gratuity were key-values in the organ donation and transplantation social perceptions of the respondents. Thus, we assume that introducing financial incentives could tarnish the image of transplant medicine. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to evaluate if their introduction would improve the organ donation rates or decrease voluntarism. https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/1402financial incentivesorgan donationTransplantation
spellingShingle F Bosisio
M Santiago
L Benaroyo
Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
Swiss Medical Weekly
financial incentives
organ donation
Transplantation
title Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
title_full Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
title_fullStr Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
title_full_unstemmed Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
title_short Financial incentives to improve organ donation: what is the opinion of the Vaud French-speaking population?
title_sort financial incentives to improve organ donation what is the opinion of the vaud french speaking population
topic financial incentives
organ donation
Transplantation
url https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/1402
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