Organ transplant and the black market

The following scene is not uncommon outside any public hospital. Professional blood donors hang around blood banks. They are in search of needy persons, usually relatives of patients. These relatives often borrow money to pay the ‘mediator’ or donor in order to escape donating blood for their own relations. Wrong notions about donating blood are responsible for this state of affairs. Lack of knowledge coupled with the dire need for blood make a man ‘buy’ blood at any cost.

Organ transplantation has become quite common. Even in India kidney transplant is fairly common. This has led to unscrupulous practices. There are 1000 kidney transplants performed every year in India alone. Organs from related, living, human donors were hitherto used for transplantations as they are more easily accepted and results are good. There is great demand for human organs and supply is short. This has provided a golden opportunity for some people who have set up a trade in supplying organs at a hefty cost.

Removal of organs from the body of a live, unrelated person is banned in the USA. The percentage of success from such transplants is as low as 30% to 40%. Such operations are therefore being carried out in Third World countries.

Organ sale is a flourishing business here. Traders in human organs establish contacts abroad and fly patients in for surgery. Rich buyers from West Asia, particularly the prosperous Arabs from the Gulf countries, come to buy kidneys in India. They usually do this through agents who hunt poor donors in need of money. The kidney is removed at a cost of a few thousand rupees and sold at a great profit to the Arab. This lucrative business is a blot on humanity. Doctors involved in this well-paying trade have turned a Nelson’s eye towards all ethical and legal norms.

Govind Thakur, from Lalol in Gujarat, was a daily wage worker in Bombay. He went to a doctor for treatment of bleeding through his nose. The doctor under the guise of treating him removed one kidney, for which he paid Thakur Rs. 21,000. He claims that the kidney was transplanted into an Arab woman’s body. He does not have any proof except the discharge certificate issued by the hospital in Bombay.

There is a story about Ranjit Singh, the king of Punjab, who had lost an eye in battle. A healthy man once came to him for alms. Ranjit Singh asked for one eye and offered half of his kingdom as the price. But the beggar turned down the offer. This sto: y exemplifies the importance of healthy organs to an individual. It is all the more sad that in a country that recognises such truths as part of tradition and folklore has now spawned individuals profiteering in the organs of the poor. Shouldn’t such doctors be termed licensed killers?