Applied Health Prospective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Applied Health Prospective - Essay Example 94). In effect, commoditization is about making money or profit off of body parts, organs, and tissues for organ transplantation or, in some instances, for research. It is about treating body parts as if they were commodities separate from the human body. The statistical figures which relate to the commoditization of human life, especially on organs trade are not complete because the trade is considered illegal and unethical in all territories. Nevertheless, in order to give a general picture of this issue, the World Health Organization estimates that about 50,000 kidney transplants are carried out each year and about 15,000 of these transplants are live donors (GTZ, 2004, p. 11). Some of these transplants would come from relatives, and the rest would be from unrelated donors. These unrelated donors are the cause for concern in the commoditization of human organs because some are illegal transactions. Thousands of illegal transplants seem to be occurring with each year in different c ountries like Japan, Italy, the US, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Peru, and South Africa (GTZ, 2004, p. 11). One of the concerns in the organs trade is that the sellers are often coerced by creditors or by their poor stations in life to sell their organs. However, studies have revealed that organ sellers actually receive less than what their body parts are actually worth. Surrogacy, when carried through proper channels, is not as controversial as commercial surrogacy especially when the act of carrying a child is not done as a gestational carrier, but done with one’s own egg. This practice seems to be growing especially with the access to developing nations now easily available. Once again, no actual statistics seem to be available for commercial surrogacy; however, estimates indicate that this practice has doubled in the last few years (Gathia, 2008). India is one of the nations highly involved in commercial surrogacy with clients mostly coming from western developed nations. Thi s is the current scenario in the commoditization of human life and body parts. The acts of donating organs or of surrogacy are normally viable medical options; however, when these acts are now done with price tags, the human body then becomes a product or a commodity. This paper shall now discuss in more specific details the different activities involved in the commoditization of human life. It shall also consider the impact of such activities, the ethical aspects of such activities, including the positive, the negative, and the alternate views on the commoditization of human life. Body Common practices in the commoditization of human life, tissues, and body parts The most common practices in the commoditization of human life involve the following: organ selling, commercial surrogacy, and human experimentation. In some circles, stem cell research is considered a part of the commoditization of human life; however, since this practice is not yet widespread, it shall not be included as yet in this discussion. Organ selling involves the act of acquiring organs for a price. Most common are kidney organ sales from developing nations with buyers coming from wealthy developed nations (Rohter, 2004, p. 2). This practice has been criticized for its ethical and physiological impact on sellers who are often taken advantage by rich clients and by middlemen, the latter transacting in the buyer’s behalf and in the process, profiting from such sale. This practice is illegal in