By Gift Chapi Odekina, Abuja
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish a national framework for deceased organ and tissue donation and transplantation in Nigeria.
The bill, which was considered at plenary on Wednesday, seeks to protect donors, recipients and their families while ensuring that organ and tissue transplantation is conducted safely, ethically and transparently.
Sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, and six other lawmakers, the proposed legislation also seeks to establish a National Deceased Donation and Transplantation Authority to regulate and coordinate the donation and transplantation process.
Leading the debate on the bill’s general principles, one of its co-sponsors, Patrick Umoh, said organ and tissue donation offered an opportunity for one person’s death to help save or improve another person’s life, but stressed the need for clear legal, ethical and medical safeguards.
He said Nigeria required a coordinated legal framework to govern consent, determination of death, organ recovery, allocation, transplantation, tissue banking, safety and regulatory oversight.
According to him, the absence of such a framework could expose vulnerable persons to exploitation and undermine public confidence in organ donation.
Umoh said the bill would establish appropriate regulatory structures, promote equitable access to transplantation, strengthen patient safety and expressly prohibit the commercialisation and trafficking of human organs and tissues.
He explained that recovered organs would be allocated through a national organ allocation and matching system and a national waiting list.
The lawmaker stressed that allocation would not be based on wealth, political influence or other non-medical considerations, adding that inability to pay alone would not disqualify a person from the waiting list.
The proposed legislation contains 172 clauses divided into 16 parts and three schedules, covering the entire deceased-donation process, from donor identification to transplantation.
It provides for the establishment of the National Deceased Donation and Transplantation Authority as the principal national regulator and coordinator, with its headquarters in Abuja and plans for zonal structures.
On consent, the bill provides for voluntary donation based on lawful authorisation and expressly rejects presumed consent or an opt-out system.
It states that an adult with legal capacity may authorise organ or tissue donation, with a valid first-person authorisation remaining effective even if the person’s family objects.
Similarly, a valid refusal to donate would be legally binding, preventing the recovery of organs or tissues contrary to the person’s wishes.
The bill also provides that the prospect of organ donation must not influence the determination of death, which must be conducted independently of transplantation, with independent confirmation requirements.
On regulatory safeguards, the proposed law provides for accreditation, licensing, donor audits, biovigilance, adverse-event reporting, traceability and safety alerts.
It also seeks to prohibit organ trafficking, transplant tourism, brokerage and commercial dealings in human organs and tissues, with enforcement measures for violations.
Under the proposed framework, donor families would receive relevant information, counselling and appropriate bereavement and psychological support, as well as requested spiritual or religious support.
The authority would also be required to publish annual reports and national performance indicators while protecting confidentiality and personal data.
Following the debate, the bill was put to a vote, passed for second reading and referred to the relevant committee for further legislative consideration.
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