I find it very difficult to make an objective decision on this topic. My heart goes out to the poor, who has to struggle on a daily basis. Wouldn’t you do anything to make sure your family has food to eat? I must agree with Tarif Bakdash’s viewpoint that poor people should have the right to exercise their autonomy by selling their organs. As harsh and immoral as this act may be it provides a solution to many families who are in financial dilemmas.
I strongly believe in INTENTIONS, so when a father sells his kidney to feed his family, I believe that GOD will protect him as his decision was pure and he had good intentions. Yes, some rich man may have the opportunity to live because he has a bigger bank balance but the truth of the matter is that materialistic things like money has no part in how long we are supposed to be on earth. Only GOD makes those decisions. So whether he buys a kidney from a poor man, he might die tomorrow because despite his wealth there is a higher power and no amount of money in the world can save him.
Is it ethical? Ofcourse it’s not ethical to exploit the poor but is the world growing in such a way that there are less people suffering from poverty? To the contrary, everyday more and more people are left homeless and expected to fend for themselves.
I used to drive past one of the robots in Pinelands quite often for about 3 years. At the robot there was an old, decent man standing and asking for food or money for his family. The man was extremely friendly and would greet every person that drove by. Every time I drove by, I had a lump in my throat because I just couldn’t deal with seeing him standing there. I kept thinking that this old man could have been my grandfather. Despite feeling this way, I drove on, and after a few minutes I would forget about him and move on with my life.
My point is that poverty is all around us but we take for granted how lucky we are to have more than others. Even though this old man’s means of getting food and money to support his family wasn’t as drastic as selling your kidney to feed your family, it’s still a means or a solution to a problem.
2645117 Uncategorized kidneys, poor, Rich
Ethical considerations are not something physiotherapists in general pay much attention to. The average physiotherapist may find discussion about this topic irrelevant, but as the authors of this article so aptly point out, research is necessary to support the validity of the treatment techniques that every physiotherapist uses and thus ethical considerations for research should be relevant to physiotherapists.
As a student currently engaging in a research project I find this article particularly relevant. Among the many pertinent points raised by the authors is that of non-maleficence, beneficence and ensuring the well being of research participants. This is after all the primary goal for the establishment of ethical considerations relating to research. The authors’ of the article state that many researchers may consider physiotherapy as a form of treatment which is unlikely to do harm. Thus they may not view ethical precautions as being “as important”. The authors further go on to state that this attitude toward ethical considerations and their place in the research of physiotherapy treatments should be viewed as very problematic. In an attempt to combat this kind of attitude, the article highlights the reasons why ethical considerations and “the potential harms eventuating from physiotherapeutic interventions being researched” should be taken very seriously. I found one of these in particular to be the most important reason for ensuring the well-being of research participants and considering maleficence and beneficence. This reason is that “other sorts of harm can arise from the non-physical research carried out by physiotherapist that might be perceived as very low-risk methods such as interviewing.” The authors suggest that “recollection of emotionally difficult experiences in the course of an interview can cause harm in a participant” and that “recognizing the possibility of such emotionally harm is the first step to putting in place safeguards to prevent such harm”. Furthermore the authors state “the duty of care to participants may indeed extend further than the described limits of the research” and in this I fully agree with them. It is our duty as researchers to consider the subjects involved in our research projects as more that just “participants”. Our duty is to consider them as people, with emotions and a life beyond that of our project limitations. Thus we should make the duty to protect their physical, mental and emotional well-being our primary concern when conducting research.
2630384 Uncategorized ethical considerations, patient well-being, physiotherapy
reflecting on Truth and Reconcilaition commission article
Torture during apartheid regime was totally humiliation of human rights. Before I read this report from the truth and reconciliation I did not have a clear mind set about what happened during apartheid. So now I am not sure any more whether should I continue with going further to find readings about the truth and reconciliation report or should I just leave everything the way it is because this reports are very sad and emotionally touching.
It happed that one day my brother told me about Solomon Mahlangu story. Solomon Mahlangu was torture before he was killed; he was hanged during apartheid at Central Pretoria prison in 1979 April 6.
For further reading www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/people/mahlangu3.html. His death shocked many people even if he did wrong. The shocking part was that of freedom of speech and to express youself. He was not allowed to say any thing which was violation of human right but before he was killed he managed to say one last word “Mandla”. Even now i am still sceptical about whether should TRC continue or nor ? is up to you to decide but for me I will always be not sure.
2552720 Uncategorized Apartheid, human rights, Torture, truth and reconcialtion commision
“Global justice” is such a thing even possible? Only if the wealthiest countries act with integrity can it ever be realized.
It’s not as if resources are scares, according to this article “the aggregate national income of wealthy countries recently surpassed $21 trillion annually” This means that there should be more than enough to go around, especially towards the global aids fund. Such an attempt to fund prevention strategies and treatment of the world’s three leading causes of death should be a high priority to wealthy countries. So far there has been some evidence of generosity but according to a press release by the donors of the global AIDS fund on April 1st 2009 “The Global Fund needs an additional US $4 billion to continue to meet its goals up to 2010. “ As was rightly stated in the same press release “Even in this time of economic crisis government spending on AIDS, TB and malaria is a smart investment.” So why does the question of how to fill an estimated funding gap of at least $4billion still urgently need to be addressed. (Can be seen at http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/pressreleases/?pr=pr_090401)
If donor countries can “quickly come up with astounding sums of money for an antiterrorism campaign.” They should be just as quick to come up with an excuse for not being able to make more of that money work toward reaching the poorest and neediest of those affected by HIV, TB and malaria. Only when governments rule with integrity, will justice become a possibility.
2630384 Uncategorized AIDS, global fund, integrity
What drives one human being to perform horrific acts of torture on another human being? Is it a psychotic state of mind which brings about this sadomasochistic behaviour or are they just “following orders”?
As Mr. Dyantyi tells his horrific story of how he was gruesomely tortured, I noticed that Lieutenant Van Loggerenberg and his minions got some kind of pleasure from the grievous acts they performed on Amos Dyantyi because each act of torture was more brutal than the one before.
I believe Lieutenant Van Loggerenberg and his minions are all people that have some good in them despite all the horrific things they’ve done. Although their acts are questionable, they became concerned about Amos Dyantyi when his health declined considerably to the point where his life was in danger. At this point they halted their cruel acts of torture and showed their innate human behaviour of compassion towards another human being.
As human beings, are our morals and beliefs compromised by the inhumane orders we are obligated to carry out? How far would we go before our actions become too wrong? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves. I believe we are all good people, but we are often influenced by others to part take in actions that place our morals and beliefs in jeopardy. I ask you this… Are you strong enough to make choices in life based on your morals and beliefs, regardless of the influence from others?
2642089 Uncategorized morals, sadomasochistic, Torture
I think that anybody whether rich or poor reserves the right to decide on selling their kidney. It may be that some suffer the after-effects of this, be it physical, emotional, psychological or social, but this may be the same for many other operations undergone, post–operatively. It may be that the reason for these after-effects are because the buying and selling of kidneys is not a legal regulated practice. Stigmas may be attached to a buyer because the community is not well-educated about it. This is something that needs to be considered by medical councils as the selling of kidneys will continue whether it is legal or not. Every person reserves the right to autonomy concerning medical matters and if a poor person may see this as a way to alleviate the many pressures of poverty for his family then who are we to judge or stop him. Yes there are times when the selling of kidneys will be exploited but this is the case for many types of organ transplantation. It is my opinion that buying of kidneys while it is illegal at the moment allows for more exploitation than if it were regulated and monitored. Why not make it a safer, monitored practice so that some of the after-effects may be avoided. The buying/selling of kidneys will continue whether it is legal or not. The next step in my opinion would be to make it safer, bringing the least harm to the buyers and removing the attached stigmas to some extent.
2440608 Uncategorized kidneys
After reading this very informative article I find myself thinking about my own research topic for our fourth year. All the ethical considerations that have to be taken into account now seem very daunting. We treat this research project like “just another project” and yet people’s lives are involved. No matter how insignificant it may seem to us, confidentiality and proper informed consent are very important no matter what the research topic may be. Up until now I have not really considered the weight and importance of what we are really doing while conducting this research. The way we go about the process and methods of the research project is so important. It is evident that, in some cases researchers may take advantage of situations or undermine the rights or feelings of participants and this is something that we must safeguard ourselves against. It is so easy to fall into a sort of lax attitude as other things may steal our attention so easily but it important to remember that confidentiality is very important and it is therefore necessary to properly secure all information on participants. Reading the article has driven me to take a more serious attitude toward conducting research, whether it be a fourth year research project or any other research I may conduct in the future.
2440608 Uncategorized Ethical research
I believe that at the moment, with selling organs being illegal, the poor are being exploited. That is why I believe that if kidney selling becomes legal, the government can regulate it. There should be guidelines for the selling of kidneys such as the donor should be compensated with a predetermined amount and that the person receiving the organ should pay for the medical bills that are incurred for the actual transplant and recovery thereof. There should also be certain hospitals that are willing to do the operation that are deemed safe and provide sufficient care pre and post operatively, this removes the chance of substandard care for the donor. Also the donor should be made aware of all the complications that can occur from the surgery as well as the long term adjustments that should be made to the donor’s lifestyle, this should be done in their own language and consent to the surgery should be fully informed. This takes away the risk of the donor being caught unaware of certain issues after the kidney has been removed and it is too late to change their mind.
If kidney selling is legalised it would remove the problems caused by black market organ selling such as inadequate medical care and complications from the donation.
The money from the donation could feed the donors family for an extended period so they are not only saving the person in need of a kidney but also themselves and their family. I feel that I person dying of starvation with both kidneys seems silly if they can live with one and have sufficient nutrition for themselves and their family.
Tammy Theron Uncategorized kidney selling, legal organ selling
As South African youth, I don’t think that we grasp the horrors of apartheid. The torture of Mr Dyantyi happened in my lifetime! I now understand how difficult it is for older generations to move past the actions of my forefathers. I can’t believe that one human being can be so inhumane to another, it sickens me.
I feel the truth and reconciliation commission was a wonderful way to try and bring closure to those who were wronged as well as those who were just following orders. I believe that God will punish those who commit sin and do not repent. I believe that it is not a human beings place to forgive but God’s place. I am not saying that a person should hold a grudge against his wrongdoer but should rather gain closure on the situation, knowing that God allowed it to happen and try to move on with their lives.
Mr Dyantyi overcame many hardships, including frivolous torture, and moved on with his life, I deem that to be extremely courageous.
Mr Dyantyi’s story helps the youth of South Africa to understand how hard people fought and the extremes they went through to fight for freedom. I feel this fight for freedom and democracy has been so quickly forgotten, it is so evident when I speak to people about voting and they, “Oh, I’m not going to vote.” This disgusts me as it makes stories like Mr Dyantyi’s seem unimportant.
Tammy Theron Uncategorized forgivenes, Torture, Truth and Reconciliation Comission
This discussion is so controversial and there are so many view points or aspects to consider that it is difficult to say whether any decision made is right or wrong.
I can understand why someone who earns so little would resort to using their body as a commodity. However, I feel that at the end of the day it still amounts to exploitation because if no one was living in poverty then no-one would feel the need to sell their kidneys in order to make a living. How often do we see the rich selling their kidneys’ for financial gain? But on the other hand we have to be realistic. Organ selling is happening on the black market. As a health professional I agree with the article that under these circumstances the selling of human kidneys’ should rather be legalized if it cannot be stopped all together. In that way we will ensure that these procedures will take place in a more controlled environment. Currently it is happening behind closed doors and this impacts on the standard of the surgical procedure and post operative care of the donor. These factors lead to complications after surgery and often can lead to the death of a donor. Legalizing these sales may improve the conditions under which they are performed. In my personal opinion I feel that the poor selling their kidneys is more of a temporary solution to a long standing problem. For the donor the sale of a kidney may not hold as much benefit in the long run as many of them return to the lives they have always lived but only this this time, with one kidney. These donors are often from such low socio-economic circumstances that they are not privy to financial guidance to help manage the money they would receive.
Should I ever be in this situation though, my choice would be guided by the rules of my religion. As a muslim it is not permissible to sell ones organs for financial gain. Islam states that an organ may be donated in order to save a life but the cold calculation of selling organs only for financial gain is completely taboo. I believe that one should trust in the Almighty as the plan for our lives lay with him.
So in conclusion, this ethical decision can only be left up to the person in this situation and unless we have a better solution I think we shouldn’t be sitting in judgment of their choice or decision.
2630749 Uncategorized
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