Japan closer to allowing child organ transplants
TOKYO, June 18 (Reuters) - Japan moved closer on Thursday to allowing children to receive organ transplants, when parliament's lower house approved a bill to scrap age limits on who can become an organ donor. Japan currently only allows organ transplants from brain dead people aged 15 or over, so sick children in need of organs must travel overseas to obtain a transplant.
Activists and some lawmakers have been trying to change the rule for years, but the push for revisions gained momentum this year because the World Health Organisation was expected to ask countries to put restrictions on foreigners seeking organ transplants amid worries about transplant tourism.
"We can't turn back time for families and children who weren't able to get treatment in Japan ... but it's a first step so that others don't have to go through the same experience," said Namie Nakazawa, a supporter of the bill, whose son died while awaiting a transplant.
"Many in the public are focusing on this bill now that it's been sent to the upper house, so I want lawmakers to seriously think through this issue," the tearful mother told reporters.
The fate of the bill in the upper house is unclear, however, because major political parties are leaving decisions on how to vote up to individual lawmakers, and the chamber has other legislation it may decide to handle first. (Reporting by Yoko Kubota and Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Rodney Joyce)
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