Membership Statement

The Transplantation Societyis the leading international society of physicians, surgeons and scientists involved in the transplanta¬tion of organs and tissues. The membership should be active in promoting organ donation from deceased as well as from live donors. The Society is proactive in the development of interna¬tional transplant policy, the monitoring of transplantation activities and in supervision of the adherence to proper principles of practice.

It is a fundamental principle for The Transplantation Society that donors of organs and tissues are not exploited and that consent for donation must be obtained without coercion. The Transplantation Society opposes the buying and selling of organs.

Two models of authorization for organ donation from the deceased donor, explicit consent or registered objection, are practiced. In countries using the system of registered objection, extensive efforts should be taken in order to ascertain that the public knows its right to object. Members of The Transplantation Society must not be involved in obtaining or transplanting organs from executed prisoners or other donors where there is a risk that an autonomous consent for donation is lacking.

Applicants for membership in The Transplantation Society should also be aware of the following positions of the Society:

1. All countries with donation and organ and tissue transplantation activities should have relevant legislation ensuring transparency, safety and effective monitoring of the procedures.
2. All countries should enact legislation prohibiting exploitation of donors by commercial trafficking in organs and tissues.
3. All countries should have a system for approval and certification of transplant centres and physicians by relevant government and/or medical professional authorities.
4. All countries should have methods for registration and tracking of all organ and tissue donors.
5. All countries should have systems to ensure that the allocation of organs is transparent and governed by medical criteria.
6. All countries obtaining organs from deceased individuals should legally define death and the criteria to diagnose death. The determination of death should be independent of a direct interest in a subsequent organ transplant procedure. No organs or tissues should be removed unless the individual is declared dead.
7. In the case of live donation, all countries should be guided by relevant legislation and monitoring to ensure that:
   a) only individuals with the cognitive capacity to understand the risks and benefits of being a live donor are accepted as donors;
   b) potential donors receive the relevant and sufficient information about the procedure to make an autonomous decision;
   c) the decision to donate is voluntary, free of exploitation and coercion;
   d) all donors receive a complete medical and psychosocial evaluation and are cared for throughout the postoperative recovery period;
   e) donor’s access to long-term follow-up is promoted.

Scientific studies and clinical activities should be performed in keeping with the ethical principles delineated in the following policy documents:

• The Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism Lancet. 2008 Jul 5;372 (9632):5-6.
• For Live Kidney Donation - The Consensus Statement of the Amsterdam Forum (Transplantation 79(6): S53-S66, 2005)
• For Live Donation of Extrarenal Organs -The consensus Statement of the Vancouver Forum (Transplantation 81(4): 1373-1385, 2006)
• For Studies of Xenotransplantation -The International Xenotransplantation Association Ethics Committee Position Paper on “The Ethics of Xenotransplantation” (Xenotransplantation 10:194-203, 2003)
• For research involving human subjects -The Helsinki Declaration of The World Medical Association.