Parliament last week on Thursday passed a bill that will permit the donation and transplant of human organs.
The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2022 as it is called, seeks a legal framework for organ, cell and tissue transplants across the country.
Speaking about the same bill, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng the health minister said Parliament took the decision following an increasing demand for donations of organs and yet no there was no law to back up the idea.
“Parliament has passed the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill, 2021. This is another milestone for us as the health sector,” Dr. Aceng tweeted in support.
Overview
On Tuesday, 05 July 2022 during plenary, Dr. Aceng tabled the bill before Parliament on account that donation of human organs has been ongoing in the country without a law to regulate it.
In her proposal then, she said the bill aims at protecting the dignity and identity of persons and guarantees, without discrimination, respect for their integrity and other rights and fundamental freedoms concerning the donation and transplantation of organs, tissue and cells of human origin.
She said the bill will also help establish a Uganda Organ and Transplant Council that will oversee and regulate organ, cell and tissue donation and transplantation in the country.
In addition, she also told Parliament then that the bill designates Mulago National Referral Hospital as the pioneering transplant centre.
In so doing, it prescribes the criteria to be followed in an organ transplant, establishes standards for storage for harvested organs, and establishes an organ and tissue database and reporting requirements among others.
Proposing further, she said the bill will also prescribe penalties and offenses related to issues of organ transplant and donation.