Passage Two

When Christian Bemard, a South African doctor, performed the first human heart exchange in 1967, the result was a worldwide moral discussion on the rights and wrongs of exchanging parts of the body. Hearts were not the first human parts to be exchanged but, in this case, if someone gave his or her heart, he or she would obviously and necessarily die (or be dead). Kidney exchanges, which were already quite common in 1967, often involved the transfer of a single kidney from a close living relative. The chances of survival of this person were slightly lowered because he or she now had only one kidney and if that kidney became diseased there would not be a healthy kidney in reserve. Nevertheless, he or she would not certainly die.

Since that time, surgical techniques and techniques to help prevent the patient’s bodies from rejecting new parts have developed very quickly. Today, not only hearts and kidneys, but also other parts, which are even more delicate, are exchanged. These developments have led to a far higher proportion of successful operations and this, in turn, has led to a greater demand for exchanges.