Incentives for Organ Donors Can Reduce the Need to Travel to “Kidney Village”

In his article Ending Black Market for Organs, N.Y. Post, Aug. 6,2007, Jeff Stier, Associate Director of the American Council on Science and Health, discusses a shortage of organ donors in the United States and the resulting emergence of a black market. To illustrate this problem, the author describes a poor neighborhood in India known as “kidney village,” where desperate patients obtain incredibly inexpensive kidneys.

Ending Black Market for Organs explains that lack of enthusiasm toward organ donation has resulted from a scarcity of incentives. The article also proposes a solution.  Specifically, the author suggests implementation of a variety of incentive programs to increase organ donation rates.  By improving organ supply, these programs will save lives and reduce demand for a black market.