Culture aspect on human organ donation Research Paper

Culture aspect on human organ donation - Research Paper Example While there are no legal hurdles during the process of organ donation, there is a lot of skepticism among the potential donors. In countries like India and China, the main religions talk about the concept of rebirth and reincarnations. Hence, religious followers have developed a fear about donating the body parts after death (Woo, 1992). According to Daar (2000), in Islamic countries, the religion prevents the separation of organs from the body after death. However, a deep dive into the cultural traditions of these nations indicates that religion and culture are not actually against organ donation (Ogbonmwan, 2010). This study aims to identify the reasons that prevent people from organ donation and will try to find out if culture is one of the dominant factors that go behind the decision. The study is based on review of literature as well as the research undertaken on the topic of impact of culture on organ donation. The study will highlight the various insights through the review of literature and research about the way in which culture plays a role in making an impact on organ donation. Organ Donation, Culture and Religion The cultural aspect of organ donation is deeply influenced by the way in which culture influences religion. Hence, in most cases, the religious practices or beliefs have transpired as cultural beliefs. Here is a brief summary of what some of the major religious practices talk about the concept of organ donation. Islam and Organ Donation According to Islam, violating the human body is a forbidden concept but, at the same time, the concept of altruism forms a basic tenet of Islam. Hence, helping in saving the life is regarded as a noble concept. Therefore, based on this principle, many Muslim Law bodes have passed religious rulings that organ transplantation is entirely approved in Islam, such as by the UK Muslim Law body (Golmakani, 2005). According to Golmakani, the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of the Government of Saudi Arabia had approve d both live as well as cadaver organ donation in 1988. Countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Iran had also passed similar rulings (Einollahi, 2008). As per the research done by Einollahi in 2008, he felt that scholars approved of organ donation and even Islamic laws were passed in approval. However, even then many followers are not comfortable with the idea of organ donation, especially when it comes to the procedure of deceased organ donation. Einollahi’s research shows that among all the kidney donations carried out in Iran, only 13% were deceased donation. In Turkey, Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this figure was less than 25%. Hence, there is still some skepticism based on religion about organ donation. In addition, there is also some difference of opinion between the Indo-Asian Muslim scholars and the Arab scholars, where the Indo-Asian Muslim scholars are not much in favor of organ donation (Rady and Verheijde, 2009). Part of this concern could arrive from the nor ms for burial which states that the body should be buried within 24 hours, where as lengthy organ retrieval procedures may delay the norm (Gatrad, 1994). Therefore, while Islam as a religion does not have any prohibitions against Islam, followers are still apprehensive about the entire procedure. Christianity and Organ Donation Christianity as a religion endorses organ transplantation. The various branches of Christianity such as Anglican,