Abstract
This essay provides a brief overview of the rise of organ trade in Pakistan towards the end of the last century and the concerted, collective struggle—of physicians and medical associations aided by the media, journalists, members of civil society, and senior judiciary—in pressuring the government to bring about and implement a national law criminalizing such practices opposed by an influential pro-organ trade lobby. It argues that among the most effective measures to prevent re-emergence of organ trafficking in the country is increasing ethical live donations and above all, establishing sustainable, public supported deceased donor programs. To do this, the transplant community must recognize that organ transplantation is not merely a donor-recipient-physician transaction but a complex issue in which decisions to donate an organ are influenced by indigenous values and belief systems about human illness, life and death.
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Notes
The Center of Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC), inaugurated in 2004 in SIUT, is the only bioethics center in the country. In addition to offering education and public awareness programs in ethics, it focuses on sociological research on healthcare issues pertinent to Pakistan.
The press and media played a critical role in raising public awareness about kidney trade. For examples of this see “Stop this heinous kidney-selling racket,” Editorial, Daily Times, Pakistan, May 24, 2007; Afzal Ansari, “Kidney donor has the worst of both worlds,” Dawn, Pakistan, July 10, 2007; and “PMA [Pakistan Medical Association] seeks curbs on illegal organ transplants,” Dawn, Pakistan, November 11, 2006. Also see Farhat Moazam, “Organ(ised) Crime,” Magazine Section, Dawn, Pakistan, August 27, 2006.
Three female parliamentarians submitted a Private Members’ Bill in the National Assembly on August 26, 2008 seeking amendments in the Ordinance to relax criteria for living donors and permit monetary compensation to organ donors. The Bill was withdrawn in January 2009 following intense lobbying by physicians opposing commercial transactions for organs.
The text of the Pakistan Transplantation of Organs and Tissues Bill, 2010 can be accessed at—www.na.gov.pk/acts/act_2010/transplantation_human_organs_act2010_170310.pdf.
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Moazam, F. Pakistan and kidney trade: battles won, battles to come. Med Health Care and Philos 16, 925–928 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-012-9451-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-012-9451-3