Registration Link: For HKU members / For non-HKU members
MEHU Lunchtime Seminar
Title: Organ Vouchers and Barter Markets: Trading in Human Organs for Transplantation
Date: 11 March 2024 (Monday)
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Venue: Rm 608, 6/F, William M W Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Mode: In-person
Registration Link: For HKU members / For non-HKU members
Abstract:
This presentation explores an innovative organ voucher program for encouraging kidney donation for transplantation. Discussion clusters around a number of themes: What are the direct and indirect health care costs and benefits of such a voucher system in human organs? Do vouchers and similar barter markets lead to more effective and efficient organ procurement and allocation? Would organ vouchers inappropriately contribute to the commodification of human body parts? Are there any significant moral differences between such a voucher system, a barter market, and a more direct market in human organs for transplantation? This paper argues that while kidney vouchers (and similar incentives) constitute a step in the right direction, fuller utilization of market-based incentives, including more direct economic incentives, would be morally permissible, save lives, and further reduce human suffering.
Speaker:
Professor Mark Cherry
Dr. Patricia A. Hayes Professor in Applied Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas
Mark J. Cherry is the Dr. Patricia A. Hayes Professor in Applied Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from the University of Houston and his doctorate degree in philosophy from Rice University in Houston, Texas. His research compasses ethics and bioethics, together with social and political philosophy.
He is Editor of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (Oxford University Press); Senior Editor of the journal Christian Bioethics (Oxford University Press); and Editor-in-Chief of the journal HealthCare Ethics Committee Forum (SpringerNature); he is Co-editor of the book series The Annals of Bioethics (Routledge) and Editor of the book series Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture (SpringerNature).
He is author of Kidney for Sale by Owner: Human Organs, Transplantation, and the Market (Georgetown University Press, 2005/2015); Sex, Family, and the Culture Wars (Routledge, 2016); and Bioethics After God: Morality, Culture, and Medicine (University of Notre Dame Press, forthcoming August 2024), as well as numerous edited books, journal articles, book chapters, and other publications.
Moderator:
Dr Olivia Ngan
Research Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, HKUMed
Dr Olivia Ngan has a multidisciplinary background in neuroscience (BS, University in Michigan – Ann Arbor), bioethics (MS, Columbia University), and public health (PhD, Chinese University of Hong Kong). Her primary research work explores ethical issues in the translational application of emerging technologies in genomic medicine and healthcare services, including reproductive technologies (e.g. surrogacy and social egg freezing), prenatal screening and diagnosis, and newborn screening). In her doctoral work, she employed a mixed-method study, looking at the public health and social implications of non-invasive parental test screening for chromosomal aneuploidy in the two-tiered healthcare system. At present, she is collaborating with Hong Kong Children’s Hospital to explore public receptivity towards the storage of dried blood spot cards and whole-genome sequencing newborn screening. She is also interested in examining how the pandemic exacerbates health issues among vulnerable populations. Over the years, she has authored books and published papers in international peer-reviewed journals in public health, healthcare research, ethics, and medical education.
In addition to research, she is also passionate about cultivating ethical sensitivity among medical students. She awards courseware and teaching development grants in the capacity of PI, leading bioethics learning activities outside the classroom. She also provides supervision for undergraduate and postgraduate student projects related to medical ethics and medical education, such as moral distress.
Welcome to join us!
Enquiry: Please contact Mr Edison Cheng (mehu@hku.hk).