The health authorities have urged people interested in donating a kidney to approach Mater Dei Hospital directly through its renal unit.
The call came in the form of a clarification regarding the organ donation process, following the online advert by Sarah Borg who offered €5,000 in compensation to people prepared to donate their kidney to the father of her son.
The money was being offered to cover expenses, Ms Borg specified. However, the matter is now being looked into by the Live Organ Transplant Advisory Committee, which will be meeting urgently this week to establish the legal and ethical implications of the issue before the transplant could be even considered.
The role of the committee is to establish that there is no coercion or financial gain for about 20 potential kidney donors who came forward in response to the advert.
Its role is also to ascertain that “the donor is in good health, is fully informed of the potential repercussions of the proposed donation, is physically and psychologically prepared for it and that his health status will not suffer as a result”, the Health Ministry explained.
Once all this is established, the process of checking compatibility with the recipient starts.
Ms Borg’s offer of compensation to any donor is not illegal as no legislation yet exists. However, a directive is about to be transposed from EU laws, which clearly stipulates that organ donation must be voluntary and unpaid, even though it makes a caveat for compensation.
The ethical aspect has, however, raised controversy and those involved in organ donation have said they were against any form of payment even if it was aimed at covering medical costs and for being out of work for a few weeks.
A live organ donor who is not related to a prospective recipient may have a specific wish to donate his organ to a specific recipient. It is felt that, in this case, having ascertained that the parameters have been satisfied, the wish of the donor should be respected.
The draft legislation, which transposes EU directive 2010/45, was being translated after having gone through wide consultation with the stakeholders, the ministry said.
The directive – and the proposed legislation – also ensures the quality of harvesting and the safety of organ transplantation as well as the quality standards required in establishments carrying out such procedures.