Pakistan aims to control organs trade
Monday, 20 August 2007
ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (AFP): When a man called Tariq offered 24-year-old Usman Rana more than 16,000 dollars for one of his kidneys, he thought his fortune was made.
Soon after Rana arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad from his hometown Lahore in February in search of work, police said Tariq "lured him into selling one of his kidneys for one million rupees (16,666 dollars)."
A patient from Britain was the buyer, Rana was told, and he was given a down payment of 100,000 rupees, a fortune in the impoverished country, before being operated on in a private hospital just outside the capital.
Not long after the operation, as Rana's remaining kidney began to cause him pain, he still didn't have the rest of the money. So he started knocking on doors and ended up contacting police who uncovered a complicated scam.
Newspapers reported that four people, including a doctor and a policeman, appeared in court Friday in connection with Rana's case and were remanded in custody as police hunt for two more men, including a policeman.
According to Pakistan's government, Rana's story is not unusual and last week it introduced legislation aimed at controlling a lucrative illegal trade in human organs that preys on the "poorest of the poor."
Under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Bill, 2007, the unauthorised sale and transplantation of human organs will be punishable with 10 years' jail and hefty fines.
The bill prohibits the sale of organs by Pakistanis to foreigners, who until now have come from across the world for life-saving operations that cost a fraction of the price at home, without the complications of waiting lists and legislation.
Soon after Rana arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad from his hometown Lahore in February in search of work, police said Tariq "lured him into selling one of his kidneys for one million rupees (16,666 dollars)."
A patient from Britain was the buyer, Rana was told, and he was given a down payment of 100,000 rupees, a fortune in the impoverished country, before being operated on in a private hospital just outside the capital.
Not long after the operation, as Rana's remaining kidney began to cause him pain, he still didn't have the rest of the money. So he started knocking on doors and ended up contacting police who uncovered a complicated scam.
Newspapers reported that four people, including a doctor and a policeman, appeared in court Friday in connection with Rana's case and were remanded in custody as police hunt for two more men, including a policeman.
According to Pakistan's government, Rana's story is not unusual and last week it introduced legislation aimed at controlling a lucrative illegal trade in human organs that preys on the "poorest of the poor."
Under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Bill, 2007, the unauthorised sale and transplantation of human organs will be punishable with 10 years' jail and hefty fines.
The bill prohibits the sale of organs by Pakistanis to foreigners, who until now have come from across the world for life-saving operations that cost a fraction of the price at home, without the complications of waiting lists and legislation.