It is widely agreed that a shortage of organs in a certain country cannot be corrected

through transplantation programs elsewhere in the world. It is the responsibility of the health care system within each country, together with its social ethicists and religious leaders, to assure that an efficient organ transplantation program is implemented and that the public is educated towards donating organs and saving lives. In Israel, a very organized and well defined program is present at the national level; however, the apparent shortage of organs is in part due Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to the public’s relatively low acceptance of organ donations. Intensive programs to enhance the public awareness towards organ transplantation and to increase the consent rate to organ donations are now being carried out in Israel. It includes national public awareness programs that involve all communication media, discussions with religious Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and community leaders, and comprehensive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical research and surveys to understand the multiple parameters that affect public opinion with respect to organ donation. THE FUTURE OF TRANSPLANTATION MEDICINE The surgical expertise, logistics, biology, and pharmacology of organ transplantation are constantly progressing and GSK J4 concentration continue to impact this field. Organ preservation is becoming more efficient and

is associated with less injury to the transplanted organs. We are now able to transplant

organs which are less optimal and to older and sicker patients. With the excellent medical and surgical expertise and progress in immunology and pharmacology, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the main limitation is public awareness and the general consent of society to organ donations. It is a complex problem that involves intense ethical and religious discussions, but it is up to the societies across the world to be Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical convinced that this is the only way today to save lives and increase the quality of lives in these devastated groups of patients who need vital organ donations. As to very futuristic ideas of being able to engineer organs and use transplants from animals32 this is still years and maybe decades away from any possible solution. As an alternative to heart transplantation, ventricular assist devices and artificial hearts also are being used today as a definite therapeutic mode and have been shown to prolong lives as compared to medical therapy alone. However, no artificial organ, kidney, or heart can be comparable, in providing the span or the quality of life, to a successfully transplanted organ. SUMMARY The world of transplantation has gone through major changes and progress over many years, with superb methods to enhance our organ preservation and surgical and immunologicpharmacologic therapeutic abilities.