Presumed Consent as an Option to Improve Ethiopian Organ Donation Law

Abstract

There are two types of legislation underlying organ donation that may be based on presumed consent and expressed consent. In expressed consent, individuals are donors when deceased only if they had registered their consent while alive. In presumed consent, any individual is presumed as a donor when deceased unless “no” is registered. Ethiopia operates under Expressed Consent regime. However, the country is under a severe shortage of organs and tissues for transplantation. One of contributing factors for the shortage relates to the legal regime. Based on qualitative research methodology, I argue in favour of modest legislative modification or the need for policy measures because presumed consent is believed to fill the gap between supply and demand for organ donation.