Gift of life confronts social taboos

It’s an implanted fact: According to the American Transplant Foundation, 20 patients in the United States die every day due to lack of available organs for transplant. Up to eight lives can be saved by a single deceased donor. This is not just an American phenomenon.  “In the Philippines, the organ shortage is probably much more pronounced,” said Dr. Narciso Tapia. A medical educator, he teaches at the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology of the Cebu Institute of Medicine. “Many with end-stage renal disease, for example, need a kidney transplant for continued survival,” he said. “But the number of living…...