A friend of mine, a medical doctor who has spent many years in this country, was here during Japan's recent press spectacular, the first official transplant operation. I asked what he thought of the frenzy surrounding this lifesaving achievement. I think his comments should have a far wider circulation than I can provide, but we do what we can. He said:

"The fascination with the transplants is downright embarrassing. This procedure was first done more than 30 years ago, and today, I believe, some 4,000 a year are performed without fanfare. Still, in a country that can focus a camera for 100 hours straight on a collapsed tunnel, it is not surprising. Where elimination from World Cup soccer took precedence over national and world events of significance, it is not surprising. Where a mudslide in Yokohama in which no one was killed or seriously injured was the event of the day (because a U.S. military housing complex was atop it), it is not surprising. The press are selective vultures. Japan should pray for all the lost souls who died with their names on a list that was never taken seriously. We should cry for all the children who will die because a child under 6 cannot receive a heart transplant. In California alone, they routinely save hundreds of these children every year by transplants with great success rates. Shame on the leadership of this country for withholding routine lifesaving techniques while the bickering continues. And shame on the population for denying the gift of life to so many who will die in vain, by not understanding and filling out donor cards. I could go on and on, but I have a plane to catch."

I am not certain he will be back.

There is also the attitude that it is OK to go overseas for transplants, but it can't be expected that Japanese people should be willing donors. Then, there is the fact that all family members must approve which can prevent a willing donor from making this gift of life. Nor does the media do what it should to encourage people to become donors. Instead, emphasis is on the sorrow and shock families would feel, and how they would be denied the opportunity to say a proper farewell.

There should be more positive-value stories that would be even more poignant if children are given a chance for life. Japan demonstrates top-level technology in many areas. Why shouldn't Japanese doctors have an opportunity to bring their skills to this most beneficial field? When I first read the paragraph I shared with you above, I thought perhaps "shame" was too strong a word. Now I wonder if there is one that is more poignant.

With this start, it is appropriate to write about the Pill. I can't count the number of times I have read that its use will soon be approved. One of the first articles I wrote considered this subject. It was in the '70s and the scene was yet another medical conference where the subject of the Pill was again being considered, as usual by an all-male panel. Women were not invited to attend although there were many highly qualified women doctors and sociologists who would have liked the opportunity to present their point of view.

There was speculation then, which continues today, that one of the barriers to introducing the Pill was likely raised by the lucrative abortion business as well as the feeling that no one knows what would happen if women were allowed to make their own decisions about their own bodies, but that whatever it might be, it would surely be bad.

But women were not to be denied their voice. There was a group of women who worked as assistants and interpreters for foreign journalists who had proper credentials to attend. At an agreed time, they rushed onto the stage, unfurled a banner demanding the Pill, and shouted for women to be represented. They only had a moment before they were hurried off stage, but they had good coverage in the foreign press. Of course nothing happened. And it is men who will make the decision today, finally shamed, I suppose, by the speed of the Viagra approval.

But in the meantime, general reporting on the Pill has been so negative -- even though it is among the best tested and generally approved medications on the market today -- that many women will choose not to use it.

Write to Jean Pearce c/o The Japan Times, 108-8071, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope.