Comparative Study of The Legal Framework for Decedent Organ Donation in Nigeria and The United States of America (US)

In the past half-century, solid-organ transplantation has become standard treatment for a variety of diseases in children and adults and this treatment offers a viable cure to organ failure, damage or malfunction aside from hemodialysis. Organ donation from living and deceased/decedent donors was device as a means through which solid organs can be outsource to carter for numerous persons in need of transplantation. In spite of this effort, there remained acute shortage of organ globally. In Nigeria and the United States of America (US), to address shortage of organs legal frameworks are put in place to stimulate altruistic organ donation. Notably, the legal scheme in the US has recorded tremendous success in the area of decedent donation whereas in Nigeria, decedent donation has been hampered by insufficient legal framework, cultural, religious and ethical factors. This work examined the legal framework for decedent donation in Nigeria and compared same with the legal framework in the US. The work recommended that the existing legal framework need to be amended to recognize the activities of Organ Procurement Organization, create donor register and expand the scope of persons that can donate organ. The authors used the comparative as well as analytical research to achieve the aim of the work.

Decedent Organ Donation, Organ Transplantation, Legal Framework, Organ Procurement Organization, Donor Register

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