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Several authors have used the terms organ gifting and “tissue gifting” to describe processes behind organ and tissue transfers that are not captured by more traditional terms such as donation and transplantation. The concept of “gift of life” in the U.S. refers to the fact that “transplantable organs must be given willingly, unselfishly, and anonymously, and any money that is exchanged is to be perceived as solely for operational costs, but never for the organs themselves”.〔Sharp (2001:116)〕 “Organ gifting” is proposed to contrast with organ commodification. The maintenance of a spirit of altruism in this context has been interpreted by some as a mechanism through which the economic relations behind organ/tissue production, distribution, and consumption can be disguised.〔Scheper-Hughes (2002)〕 Organ/tissue gifting differs from commodification in the sense that anonymity and social trust are emphasized to reduce the offer and request of monetary compensation.〔Sharp (2001)〕〔Tober (2001)〕 It is reasoned that the implementation of the gift-giving analogy to organ transactions shows greater respect for the diseased body, honors the donor, and transforms the transaction into a morally acceptable and desirable act that is borne out of voluntarism and altruism.〔Gerrand (1994:49)〕 == History == The concept of gifting with regards to body parts or fluids was first analyzed by Richard Titmuss in his book titled ''The Gift Relationship: from Human Blood to Social Policy''. Here the author highlights the negative effects of compensating blood donors and the benefits of maintaining a system where the donation of body tissues and fluids is seen in the form of a gift that is voluntarily and altruistically given to society.〔Titmuss (1971)〕 Titmuss (1971) draws from Mauss’s (1950) publication, ''The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies'', to argue that when blood is given in the form of a gift, collective social relations are formed to maintain a sense of community.〔see also Waldby and Mitchell (2006:10-18)〕 Titmuss follows Mauss’ (1950) ideas of gift giving as a system of total services (production, distribution, and consumption) where self-interest interacts with social and moral obligations that are collectively imposed to maintain social relationships and guarantee the reproduction of society.〔see also Randhawa (2000)〕 Titmuss' work was very influential at a policy level. It motivated the Nixon administration in the U.S. to reform its system of blood donation and led many people in the U.K. to oppose models of marketable blood donation systems.〔Waldby and Mitchell (2006)〕 This concept has been incorporated into the phrase “the gift of life” which was used to refer to multiple forms of organ, blood, tissue, semen, and cell line donations. The concept of gift is widely used in policies (such as the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act) regarding organ transplantation and the use of cadavers for medical studies. Researchers from various disciplines have analyzed and critiqued the idea of organ gifting and this belief that gifting and organ commodification are mutually exclusive.〔〔Cherry (2005)〕 For instance, Waldby and Mitchell, in their book ''Tissue Economies: Blood, Organs, and Cell Lines in Late Capitalism'', have indicated that “we hope to complicate and disorganize the gift-commodity dichotomy, because we consider it an inadequate way to conceptualize the political economy of tissues in the modern world of globalized biotechnology”.〔Waldby and Mitchell (2006:9)〕 Objects and their exchange serve multiple purposes and result in alternative values depending on the context.〔Wilk and Cligget (2007)〕 Other individuals have questioned the assumptions that link systems of organ gifting with the equitable distribution of human organs arguing that the voluntary and altruistic donation of organs does not necessarily imply the free transplantation of that organ.〔 In other words, under current systems of healthcare in the U.S., not only are organ donations managed by private organizations such as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), but organ transplantation is provided only to those who can afford it and in rare cases to those who desperately need it.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Organ gifting」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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