澳大利亞將對器官捐贈者進行現金補償，以縮短需要器官移植患者的等候時間，同時為捐贈者在術后恢復期提供必要的經濟支持。據悉，現金補償標準將按照澳大利亞全國最低工資水平執行，六周補償總額約合人民幣2萬余元，不過只有在職的器官捐贈者才能享受。澳大利亞衛生部長表示，提供現金補償并不是為了讓人們通過捐贈器官謀利，而只是作為他們術后六周恢復期的誤工補償。他說：“我們知道有些人六周不工作的話就沒有生活來源。這筆現金補償能夠幫助那些為家人、甚至陌生人奉獻最珍貴禮物的人們減輕經濟負擔。”澳大利亞政府計劃在未來兩年撥出845萬余元用于器官捐贈現金補償，每位捐贈者將連續六周獲得每周3900多元的補償。去年，澳大利亞共有1080位患者等候腎臟移植，而活體捐贈者只有237位。

Organ donors in Australia will be paid cash grants of about ￡2,500 to donate body parts such as their kidney or liver.

Organ donors in Australia will be paid cash grants of about ￡2,500 to donate body parts such as their kidney or liver.

The payments are intended to take pressure off waiting lists and compensate donors for having to take time off work. The payments will be based on the national minimum wage but will only be paid to donors who are employed.

The health minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the payment was not intended to allow donors to make a profit but would help them to recover the cost of taking six weeks off work to recover. Most donations in Australia involve kidneys and are provided by family members.

"You won't be financially better off, we just want to reduce the financial burden of taking time off," Mrs Plibersek said.

"We know that there are a number of people who just cannot afford to take six weeks off work. This reduces the financial burden on someone who is making the greatest gift that they can to a family member, or even to a stranger."

Iran has long paid organ donors, while Singapore has also moved to allow payments.

There were about 1080 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in Australia last year, but only 237 live kidney donors. About 288 Australians donate an organ each year.

However, the government has ruled out allowing individuals to buy organs from would-be donors.

"I do not think it is right to pay for organ donations," Mrs Plibersek said.

"I think that is crossing a moral and ethical bridge that I would not be able to cross."

The government is planning to spend about ￡890,000 on donor payments over the next two years. Each donor will be paid a weekly payment of ￡414 for six weeks.

The additional kidney transplants are expected to cut public health costs by avoiding the need to provide dialysis.

The saving is likely to be about ￡50,000 a year for each patient who receives a kidney transplant rather than dialysis.

The head of Kidney Health Australia, Anne Wilson, welcomed the donor payments, saying deceased organ donations would not be able to meet the country's transplantation demand.

"Providing the ability to take time off work whilst still having some form of income for everyday expenses such as bills, mortgage, groceries etc means there is one thing less to worry about for this group of people, who are giving someone else the gift of life," she told ABC News.

(Source: Telegraph.co.uk)

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）