Organ Shortage Today

This book argues that society has the power to solve an urgent, persistent health crisis: the unjust death of patients waiting for an organ, particularly from a deceased donor, to save their lives.

Although the therapeutic and surgical technical advances achieved by organ transplants are significant in their statistical results, society’s response to donation has generally remained underwhelming. The waiting lists are endless, and many patients succumb before a lifesaving organ is found.

In this book, leading specialists in transplant medicine from 10 countries offer an exhaustive analysis of the problems surrounding organ transplants and the current insufficient social behaviour towards organ donation. It describes the evolution of transplantation and its associated medical, ethical-legal, psychosocial, and religious problems, as well as the educational proposals that have accompanied this medical practice over time and the possibility of conceptually and practically renewing some of them.