From November 25 to November 27, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) committee at Yale Model United Nations Korea debated about the ethics of organ transplantation and donation.

The issue of organ transplantation and donation is related to several other issues, such as public health, border security, and economic inequality, suggesting that there are several global implications.

Globally, there is a shortage of organs which has caused the demand for organs to be much greater than the supply of organs.

Most nations receive organ donations truly through altruistic purposes, not allowing any other incentives such as financially-driven motives.

Currently, Iran is the only nation that allows organ trade, the practice in which organs are bought and sold. 

The concept of organ trade is highly controversial. Although it may increase the supply of organs, it exploits the poor by providing them only temporary financial relief, ultimately causing a greater economic inequality.

Another problem in need of immediate attention is that the term “organ tourism” is not internationally specifically defined; therefore, this causes many brokers and immoral health care providers to participate in the act. 

Delegates led a passionate and logical debate, and came up with three main solutions. 

The first solution was focused on international and national policies, which outlined that governments and organizations should strictly identify the definition of organ tourism in order to penalize organ trafficking.

The first group also discussed education and public health care as ways to prevent the marginalized groups, such as refugees from becoming subjected to organ trafficking.

To illustrate, the possible harm and health consequences of donating an organ is often clearly explained to the refugees before they donate their organs, which causes them to blindly donate their organs driven by the financial reward, which is often not even given. 

Also, many migrant workers decide not to receive health care after being organ trafficked because they either don’t know about it, or the government doesn't provide health care for migrant workers.

Therefore, the first group discussed equity in health care for refugees and citizens alike. 

They also argued that any incentives other than altruistic purposes should be strictly forbidden as there is bound to be a loophole that would cause more illegal activities; financially driven organ trade would not only be hard to control even with government regulations, but it would also only benefit only the rich.

Instead, they claimed an opt-out system of organs, which meant that unless an individual opted out of donating their organs after death, their organs are automatically donated after their death.

The second group advocated for the legalization of organ trade through the government, allowing for financial incentives to donate organs.

They stated that the opt-out system does not make a significant difference, a point which is made clear from countries that already have an opt-out system; the system may also receive backlash from countries with specific religious or cultural beliefs. 

They also argued that altruistic purposes alone are not sufficient, reflected in the imbalance between demand and supply of organs.

The second group strongly contended that without government-regulated organ markets, the issue of black markets of organ trade is inevitable, so the government should step in to strictly regulate it and decrease illegal organ transplantation.

The final group argued for scientific research for alternatives to organ transplantation, such as stem cell research.

The first two groups agreed that technological advancements were important to solving the shortage of organs, but they were concerned with the amount of time needed before the research was done and able to be applied to humans, since this is a crisis that requires immediate attention.

The global organ shortage crisis needs more global attention as it has led to exploitations of human rights and egregious criminal activities.