A child under 15 was declared brain dead on April 12 for the first time in Japan since the revised Organ Transplant Law took effect in July 2010, allowing organs from the young donor to be transplanted to recipients.
While it was a move long hoped for by families of children requiring heart transplants, who previously had to look overseas for donations, the harvesting of organs from children will likely continue to face a number of challenges, including the emotional aversion of grieving parents, as well as inadequate procedures to confirm whether potential donors were victims of child abuse.
A news conference on the morning of April 12 at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry drew a crowd of reporters for the announcement of the groundbreaking case.