Don't know if it was on the news in Thailand, but here lots of people are talking about it. 'The Big Donor Show' on channel BNN, a show where three contestants can win the kidney of someone who is terminally ill. First show will be on TV next Friday.

There were questions in the parliament about the TV program. The Minister involved, Ronald Plassterk, says he won't ban the program, because albeit he believes the program is not ethical sound, he still doesn't want to impose censorship on it, because we have freedom of speech in our country.

Lots of people die, because they don't get a donor kidney or other organ, in time. There are not many people who want to give up their organs when they die. In the Netherlands one needs to fill out a so called 'donor codicil' by forehand. Family should also have been informed that you are a codicil bearer. Then, when a bearer dies, the hospital is allowed to receive the organs of the bearer and use it as donor organs for someone else in need.

The makers of 'the Big Donor Show', just want to open the discussion and stress the importance of getting more codicil bearers in our country. They hope shows like this will not be necessary in the future...

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TV contestants to compete for woman's kidneys

Kate Connolly

Tuesday May 29, 2007

The Guardian

A Dutch reality television show in which a terminally ill woman is to select one of three contestants to receive her kidneys when she dies is to air this week despite criticism that it pushes the boundaries of the format too far.

The government has called for De Grote Donorshow (The Big Donor show) to be dropped because it is "unethical" and "wretched" but the broadcaster BNN said it would go ahead to highlight the difficulties of searching for kidney donors.In the show, due to be broadcast on Friday, a woman identified only as Lisa, 37, will select a recipient based on their history, profile and conversations with their families and friends. Throughout the 80-minute show, viewers will be invited to send Lisa text messages to advise her.The ruling coalition parties the Christian Democrats and the Christian Union have condemned the show.But BNN's chairman, Laurens Drillich, said the show would increase by a third the participants' chances of getting a new kidney. "The chance for a kidney for the contestants is 33%," he said. "This is much higher than that for people on a waiting list. You would expect it to be better, but it is worse."BNN said it wanted to focus on the plight of kidney sufferers as a tribute to its founder, Bart de Graaff, who died of kidney failure five years ago in spite of several transplants.

yes i heard about it on belgian tv isnt it one of these days on dutch tv?

Sick European crap. This is taking reality TV way beyond the limits of decency.

I have worked in the broadcasting industry all my life and I am disgusted that this is allowed at all...it is not about freedom of speech, this is about life and death...maybe the sick bastards will do a follow up to see which of the losers dies first! Then they could follow the grieving family around for a few days just to let the viewers experience the full impact and tragedy of it all...

...and of course the arseholes at the network making this garbage have the hide to imply they are doing this for some altruistic reasons...

Rubbish - it's ratings, ratings, dollars, dollars, and f*ck th stupid viewing public who are so thick you can make them watch anything as long as you tell them it's for thie own good, or the good of mankind, or humanity or some other such crap. The idiots believe it...

This is an insult to YOU dear viewer...they are talking about how stupid YOU are...they are taking advantage of YOU and you don't know it or even complain...they rely on dopey viewers who will switch on and watch other peoples pain and suffering and then talk about freedom of speech...and the viewers accept it without a whimper!

I make no apology for my outrage - I am absolutely disgusted that my industry has sunk to this level..I am unsurprised that it is the Europeans who came up with it though...now watch the rest of the "intelligent" world follow them...

Is this an Endomol (brought you Big Brother) production by any chance?

Greer

It's not Endemol productions.. It's BNN. It's a rather sick idea isn't it? I tend to agree with you Greer, that it's just another stunt to get higher ratings, more $$$...

On the other hand it made me realize again that something should be done with the fact that there are not enough codicil bearers. Hope that some people can make the step to become one.

It's one of these days Kenny...

Bffffffff....

There is too many topics to tackle on this post! Form TV nausea to organ donation programs.... Let us see...

I'll quote a text from Medscape on the case of Spain (world leader in Kideney transplants) we had ver modest donations and an inadequate legislation but after the introduction of certain measures, organizing patient waitlist and making the population conscious of how important donations are there was success:

QUOTE:The need to face the increasing gap between the supply and the demand of transplants has led to the development of a permanent network of trained medical staff responsible for the organ donation and removal process in all centers accredited for that process. In Spain, this activity received a specific budget, like any other medical activity in hospitals, and the responsible staff became accountable for performance. This system dramatically increased the number of potential donors referred, not only young donors with trauma, but also elderly donors dying from stroke. The effect was that the donation rate increased by more than 100% in 10 years (from 14 to 34 donors per million population). Consequently, so did all the transplant figures. In some areas, such as Catalonia, it has been demonstrated that sustained kidney transplant activity of over 60 procedures per million population can maintain or slightly decrease the waiting list, despite increasing incidence and prevalence of end-stage renal failure END QUOTE

How was that achieved, as i said, the key was to open up regulation, in Spain only in the case that the deceased expressly refuses to donate, it is up to the family to decide wether to give out the organs or not.... That in case of traumatic death, but in many other instances, with chronically ill patients for other pathologies, these are talked into the possibility of giving away their healthy organs when they die. Since it takes some time until that happens, this allows for the system to find the proper person to give the organ to and check for compatibility....

It still is imperfect but it is much more advanced than ni many other countries. Luckily enough we do not have the dramatic situation that happens in Japan, where a kidney failure patient can be stuck to the dialisis for 10 years or even die old without having received an organ....

But moving on to the program..... I agree that anything that comes out of Endemol is just utter rubbish and is vomitted upon the spectator... The spectator is an accomplice coz he wouldnt get the program unless he watched it... Ever since the launch of Big Brother, the factory has brewed all sorts of vomitive programs.... Dont even get me started on the Swan , the program in which contestants go though multiple cosmetic surgeries is record time- how naive....

But yeah... this is just another twist of the knob and trespasses moral values to contest for bauty via plastic surgery is bad enough but to contest for someone's life is hideous...

One comment to ghee... I don't know where you are from, but when you say that "european crap" you forget to mention that unfortunately it is very much influenced by the American one too.... I put all of them in the same sack.... it's just on facet of how decaying the morals and values of the West are nowadays...

Guess that's one of the reasons I came to Thailand, at least I dont understand the chatter box here... And as for cable, I already have my opinion, reflected on a journal post i made yesterday...

Just another Money making Machine Venture.

Dollars before Sense. Total nonsense.

Their are lots of ways to relay information to the masses,

to make them more aware of Donor programs(Medical) & the Importance of being a Donor.

In Australia, when you apply or renew your Drivers Licence, their is a section on that Application/Renewal which

gives you the option of whether or not you want to donate your Organs. I don't know the %'s of how many

choose to donate & that those who don't. Though It's proven to be very successful program.

One never knows what is around the corner. A lot of Fatal Tragedies happen unexpectedly.

So although a person who is a Donor dies, another person or persons are given Life,sight etc;

I chose to be a Donor for that reason.

No matter how or when I die is uncertain.

What is certain is that when die, I will have full knowledge that someone will benefit from my Death.

An Ultimate departing Gift to my fellow Human beings.

In the end it makes your life worthwhile, no matter how you have lived it.

PS:- If you donate an Organ (Liver Kidney) while you are still alive, the reward is much greater, because you may be able to see the result & Joy of the Recipient. I said may, because Donors usually have to remain Anonymous.

Thanks for the long comments Manu and Derrek! Useful ideas.. I believe they were thinking about linking it to the drivers license. Licensed to ill!!!! oh.. sorry that was something else..