Archive for the ‘Medical Ethics’ Category

News sources are reporting that lawmakers in Papua, one of Indonesia’s poorest provinces, are considering passing a law that would mandate certain “sexually aggressive” HIV-positive people be implanted with microchips so they can be better monitored. This would allow them to be easily prosecuted if they knowingly infect others, a provincial crime that carries a sentence of up to 6 months or a large fine. Prostitution and drug use are believed to be the major cause of HIV infection in Indonesia. In Papua, tribal rituals that encourage partner swapping, along with lack of education about STDs and condom use, are thought to be particular reasons for the high rate of HIV spread. Those who are against the bill say it’s a breach of human rights and support a focus on HIV/AIDS education instead.

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Selling or buying organs is illegal in Singapore and carries a penalty of up to 12 months’ jail time, or a fine of up to $7,405, or both. However, the Asian country is considering something radically new in an attempt to meet the needs of its citizens. The country is set to review the possibility of allowing its Health Ministry to legally compensate kidney donors in order to increase the number of available kidneys that are needed each year for those on transplant waiting lists. “There are desperate patients out there wishing to live and desperately poor people willing to exchange a kidney for a hopefully improved life,” said Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore’s Minister for Health. “We should not reject any idea just because it is radical or controversial. We may be able to find an acceptable way to allow a meaningful compensation for some living, unrelated kidney donors, without breaching ethical principles or hurting the sensitivities of others.” Each year hundreds of thousands die on organ transplant lists while waiting for organs that never arrive in time. Could Singapore pave the way to a possible solution? What do you think? Full story.