Originally published in the International digest of health legislation, v. 42, no. 3, 1991.

Describes the response of WHO to some of the ethical and moral issues raised by organ transplantation. The ever-increasing demand for transplantable human organs has been accompanied by persuasive reports of "trade for profit in human organs among living human beings" a form of trade which, in the words of WHOs supreme governing body, the World Health Assembly, is inconsistent with the most basic human values and in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as being contrary to the spirit of WHOs Constitution. The first part of the booklet sets forth a set of nine Guiding Principles on Human Organ Transplantation, formulated by WHO after extensive consultations involving physicians, lawyers, ethicists, health policy-makers and others. These Guiding Princples seek to provide an orderly, ethical, and acceptable framework for regulating the procurement and transplantation of human organs - preferably from the bodies of deceased persons - for transplantation purposes. While the primary focus is on the prevention of commercialism , other ethical issues are also addressed, including those raised by the use of living donors. The second part of the booklet presents the results of a systematic study conducted by WHO to determine all known international responses to commerce in human organs, on the part of intergovernmental and nongovernmental bodies, as well as relevant national and subnational legislation, codes, or other measures designed to interdict this trade. Information is provided on the steps taken or, in some cases, envisaged, in more than 50 countries.

eng fre.

WHODOC

WHO monograph

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