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Kidney donation rules expanded in Israel

Health minister Tzahi Hanegbi said that people would also be allowed to donate a lobe of their lung or liver to a relative who needs it, instead of forcing them to go abroad for such surgery. He said that even a non-relative could donate an organ if the arrangements were strictly supervised to prevent the sale of organs.

The health minister made the decision at the recommendation of the country's Supreme Helsinki Committee, which consists of ministry administrators, public hospital directors, jurists, and Jewish, Moslem, and Christian clergy.

The Israel Medical Association, however, has voiced scepticism about the new rules, saying that it would be hard to prevent abuse. Association chairman Dr Yoram Blachar said that the government should instead invest more effort in encouraging donations of cadaver organs. Only about 160 kidney transplants are performed in Israel annually, but 1000 patients are waiting for the operation.

Mr Hanegbi expects the number of donations to double as a result of the change. Many Israelis are reluctant to bequeath their organs because of superstition, fear of death or religious laws. Jewish law regards saving a life as of supreme value, but some rabbis fear doctors would remove an organ before a patient's death; others recognise death as when the heart stops beating rather than as the cessation of lower brain function.--JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, medical correspondent, Jerusalem Post

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