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The Declaration of Istanbul—early impact and future potential

Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 8, pages 358–361 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism was adopted at an international meeting held in 2008. The Declaration has been published globally and consists of a preamble, a set of principles and a series of proposals to improve the ethics and expand the benefits of the international organ transplantation endeavor. To promote and monitor the implementation of the Declaration, a Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group (DICG) has been created. The DICG has provided support for official efforts to ban the sale of organs, restrict transplant tourism and prosecute those who persist in violating the law. Substantial progress has been made thus far in countries that have been the source of transplant tourists and in countries that have been the source of donor organs for trafficking. In China, however, the use of organs from executed prisoners for transplantation purposes continues despite widespread condemnation of this practice.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are Co-Chairs of the Patient Affairs Task Force of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 7-155 Factor Building, 10833 Le Conte Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90095-1689, CA, USA

    Gabriel M. Danovitch

  2. Kuwait Organ Procurement, Hamid Al-Essa Organ Transplant Center, PO Box 288, Safat, 13003, Kuwait

    Mustafa Al-Mousawi

Authors
  1. Gabriel M. Danovitch
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  2. Mustafa Al-Mousawi
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Contributions

G. M. Danovitch researched the data for the article, provided a substantial contribution to discussions of content, wrote the article and contributed to review and/or editing of the manuscript before submission. M. Al-Mousawi contributed to review and/or editing of the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Gabriel M. Danovitch.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Danovitch, G., Al-Mousawi, M. The Declaration of Istanbul—early impact and future potential. Nat Rev Nephrol 8, 358–361 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2012.59

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