Background: This research explores how public awareness and attitudes
towards donation and transplantation policies may contribute to Spains success
in cadaveric organ donation.
Materials and Methods: A representative sample of 813 people residing in
Andalusia (Southern Spain) were surveyed by telephone or via Internet between
October and December 2018.
Results: Most participants trust Spains donation and transplantation system
(93%) and wish to donate their organs after death (76%). Among donors, a
majority have expressed their consent (59%), while few non-donors have
expressed their refusal (14%). Only a minority is aware of the presumed consent
system in force (28%) and feel sufficiently informed regarding the requirements
needed to be an organ donor (16%). Participants mainly consider that relatives
should represent the deceaseds preferences and be consulted when the
deceaseds wishes are unknown, as is the case in Spain.
Conclusions: Public trust in the transplant system may contribute to Spains high
performance in organ donation. High levels of societal support towards organ
donation and transplantation do not correspond in Spain with similar levels of
public awareness of donation and transplantation policies.
The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic dealt a severe blow to society as a whole and required countries to confront a situation that exceeded the limits of their borders. In this paper, we analyze how these countries as well as supranational organizations responded to this unprepared global emergency. We also explore what alternative models have been proposed in the wake of this crisis and propose some changes—other ways of acting—so that in future pandemics or global emergencies, we can deal with the situation more effectively.
Altruism and solidarity are concepts that are closely related to organ donation for transplantation. On the one hand, they are typically used for encouraging people to donate. On the other hand, they also underpin the regulations in force in each country to different extents. They are often used indistinctly and equivocally, despite the different ethical implications of each concept. This paper aims to clarify to what extent we can speak of altruism and solidarity in the predominant models of organ donation. It also raises the ethical question of whether these categories are adequate as a basis for such models, bearing in mind that organs are a scarce resource and that a shortage of them may mean that fewer lives are saved or improved.
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