WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation

Abstract

In May 2010, the Sixty-third World Health Assembly Resolution WHA63.22 endorsed the WHO Guiding Principles, updated in the light of changes in practices and attitudes regarding organ and tissue transplantation. The Guiding Principles are intended to provide an orderly, ethical and acceptable framework for the procurement and transplantation of human cells, tissues and organs for therapeutic purposes. Each jurisdiction will determine the means of implementing these WHO Guiding Principles. They preserve the essential points of the 1991 version while incorporating new provisions in response to current trends in transplantation, particularly the protection of the living donor, and the increasing use of human cells and tissues. The Guiding Principles stress the necessity of documentation and transparency, both for quality management purposes and to justify the confidence of patients, clinicians and the community at large in donation and transplantation services.