Illegal trade of human organs in Pakistan

The illegal trade of human organs, particularly kidney, in Pakistan has reached such dimensions that its elimination is quite a difficult task.

The cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi and Karachi have been a destination for medical tourism in the past decade, attracting people who hope to have a kidney transplant faster and more cheaply than elsewhere in the globe.

In most cases, doctors exploit the donors to give life opportunities to for the recipients.

Usually men and women are forced by desperate poverty to sell their organs, even though the bulk of the money goes into the pockets of the doctors and agents that search the rural areas for those who may be induced into giving up a kidney.

Although legislation criminalizing this act was for too long delayed, the Transplantation of Organs and Tissue Act 2010 has been on the papers for two years now and the sale and purchase of organs is illegal.

The law enforcement agencies arrested people having charges of illegal sale of human organs. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the organ trafficking industry is rapidly developing in the country.

Infrequent raids have apprehended a few of those involved, but there is nowhere near the sort of push that is required to effectively close this industry.

What appeared to be a quite disturbing factor is that the law enforcement agencies in Bosnia-Herzegovina reported a Montenegrin suspect for mediating between three Bosnian kidney patients and doctors in Lahore last year.

The patients reportedly were taken to facilities that did not appear to be legal health centres, and none of them received any medical care after the surgical treatment.

One of the patients lost his life en route to Bosnia which clearly states that this criminal enterprise is spreading beyond the boundaries.

We need to make a serious effort towards reversing this trend. We do not need the stigma of organ trafficking added to our unenviable reputation. More importantly, the people being exploited are our own.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=24510

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 2 2012. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.