What is Organ donation and Organ Transplantation?
Organ donation is the process where a person legally authorizes one or more of their organs to be removed and transplanted to another person, either by consent while the donor is alive, through a legal authorization for deceased donation which was made prior to the donor’s death, or through a deceased donation through the authorization made by the donor’s legal next of kin.
On the other hand, organ transplantation refers to the surgical removal of an organ or other bodily tissue that has irreversibly failed to properly function in the body of the host and replacing it with a healthy organ or body tissue that functions properly. Living organ donation permits individuals to donate specific organs and tissue during their lifetime, though most organs and tissues utilized for transplantation donations across the globe, are made by a recently deceased donor.
What organs can be donated and transplanted?
There are different organs that are considered viable for donating and transplanting from one individual to another and these include, but are not limited to; the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. But being a viable organ alone is not enough and therefore prior to any transplantation, medical experts thoroughly evaluate each organ to gauge its suitability for transplantation. For instance, if an individual dies from a heart attack, their heart becomes unsuitable for transplantation. However, it should be noted that if an organ is considered ineligible for transplantation, it can be donated for medical research.
Legal framework in Tanzania
Tanzania has not enacted any specific legislation dedicated solely to organ donation and transplantation. Nonetheless, in recent years, various officials from the government of the United Republic of Tanzania have acknowledged the significance of organ donation and transplantation in the country and the need to establish a legal framework facilitating such donations and transplantation. During an interview on the 24th of November, 2017 with the Citizen and Guardian Newspapers, the Minister for Health (hereinafter referred to as “the Minister”) underscored the pressing need for such a legislation. The Minister stressed on the escalating prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer, all the while pointing out the absence of legal provisions permitting organ donation in Tanzania.
Despite the absence of formal regulations in Tanzania, individuals still continue to donate organs. Whereas donors sign medical consent forms authorizing qualified medical practitioners of a particular medical institute to remove an organ and donate it to another person for transplanting. In most cases, the organs which are donated are those the donor can survive without, such as kidneys. The medical consent form mainly protects the medical practitioners (and the institutions where the procedure is taking place) in the event the process of organ removal and transplantation has fatal consequences to the person donating and receiving such an organ. Essentially, this is a contractual arrangement between the donor, the donee and the medical health institute carrying out or supervising the removal and transplantation of such organ. In this regard, there being no clear legislation in Tanzania regulating organ donation and transplantation many individuals are unaware of what the process entails and do not understand the importance of being registered as an organ donor in saving lives of patients who are in need of life saving treatment through organ donation and consequent transplantation.
A report from the secretariat of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa dated 25th August 2022, concluded that many African countries lacked legislation specifically addressing organ donation and transplantation. However, it is worth noting that in East Africa, Uganda is the most recent nation to enact specific legislation regulating organ donation, preservation and transplantation under the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Act of 2023 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), which was enacted to establish the Uganda Organ Donation and Transplantation Council, a body corporate which oversees and regulates organ-cell and tissue donation and transplantation in Uganda (hereinafter referred to as “the Council”). The Council consists of nine technical members with high moral character and integrity to be appointed by the Minister for Health in Uganda. The Act also establishes standards for the storage of harvested organs, tissue, and cells and also to create a database of information on donors and recipients to be retained by transplant centers and hospitals. For that reason, Tanzania ought to borrow a leaf from its neighbor and set out a clear legislative path for organ donation, preservation and transplantation.
To summarize, while organ donation and transplantation play critical roles in improving global healthcare outcomes, mainland Tanzania confronts obstacles in developing a comprehensive legal framework to manage these operations. Despite a lack of formal legislation, Tanzania recognizes the necessity of organ donation and transplantation, and attempts are underway to develop rules to enable such procedures as emphasized by the Minister. In line with the initiative of the sixth phase Government to improve health care in Tanzania, by increasing funding into this sector, building new health care facilities and improving on existing ones, increasing the number of specialized medical practitioners, we are of the view that creating a legal framework for organ donation and transplantation in Tanzania would be a significant step by the Government towards achieving its goal of health care improvement.
Meriosgita G. Paulin- Legal Intern
Note: This is not a legal opinion, and the contents hereof are not meant to be relied upon by any recipient unless our written consent is sought and explicitly obtained in writing.
