The Organ Transplant Act was enforced on October, 1997. This law was much awaited by patients who needed organ transplantation and by their doctors. Owing to the fact that there has been no noticeable improvement in organ recruitment, many critical opinions regarding the Act have emerged. However, these are mainly based on the patients' feelings of disappointment. Despite the fact that organ transplant is now accepted as a common medical treatment, there is not sufficient public understanding of the fact that donated organs and their transfer are indispensable elements in this treatment. Problems related to organ transplant will remain unsolved unless they are more deeply considered not only by patients, doctors and concerned specialists but also by people at large who could be latent organ donors. Human organ transplantation has traditionally been carried out in accordance with the spirit of mutual assistance. However, there are recent cases of transaction in the form of selling and buying of organs due to the fact that there are few organ donations. We need to clarify problems involved in systems used to transfer donors' organs to recipients. Forms of transactions are greatly affected by the culture of the society that individual participants belong to. In her. her previous paper, she discussed the change of property right of organ, as social norms bind both donors and recipients (Nakamura, 2004). In the present paper, the author discusses, from a market culture theory viewpoint, problems related to organ transplant, especially the aspect of organs transfer. For this purpose, the author will review several existing theories and studies regarding blood and bone marrow donors. The results of the author's research and analysis in this field will reinforce her discussion that the culture in each society plays an important role in organ transfer. Further consideration is needed in order to rebuild the existing organ donation system.
抄録全体を表示