Donor to decide on kidney recipient in Dutch TV show

AMSTERDAM, June 1 (Reuters) A dying woman will pick a ''winner'' from three people wanting her kidneys during a reality TV show on Friday that has been widely criticised as unethical. Identified only as ''Lisa'', the 37-year-old woman who has a brain tumour will base her selection on the person's history and conversations with the candidates' families and friends.

Viewers can give advice via text messages during the 80-minute show which starts at 0000 HRS.

The show has set off a storm of criticism, both at home and abroad, and many believe reality TV has gone too far.

The government has condemned the programme as unethical and inappropriate but said there is no law banning such a show. The European Commission has criticised it as being in ''rather bad taste''.

Public broadcaster BNN, which came up with the idea, said it wanted to draw attention to the growing shortage of organ donors in the Netherlands.

''We are making a programme that we know is extremely controversial.... But we believe the reality is far worse,'' BNN chairman Laurans Drillich told Reuters in an interview, pointing to long waiting lists for organs.

The Netherlands has one of the lowest donor rates in Europe, according to data compiled by the country's Health Council.

European Union figures show an improved supply of donor organs could save 10 lives a day across the 27 countries.

Reaction across Europe has been mostly negative.

Only the Dutch could spawn such a show, said conservative German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Website BellaOnline, which calls itself the voice of women, questioned whether Dutch TV had gone too far.

Callers to a local radio station even suggested the whole thing could be a hoax by BNN to build up its ratings.

BNN made headlines some years back with a show called ''Shooting and Swallowing'' underlining the impact of drug use, and another show on sex called ''This is How You Screw''.

For a factbox on organ donation regulations in major countries, please double click on.

REUTERS JK KP0859