The demand for organ transplants in rich countries is rising much faster than the supply of organs donated through traditional means. A small but growing number of the world’s poor are offering up their body parts for sale, and kidneys are the most commonly purchased organs, according to Foreign Policy.
From 1990 to 2003, the number of kidney donations from deceased donors in the United States rose 33 per cent, while the number of kidney transplant patients on the waiting list grew by 236 per cent. Trends are similar in other rich countries.
The fees kidney sellers receive around the world vary widely:
Professional brokers often connect sellers with buyers and negotiate prices. These brokers sometimes travel extensively to arrange the most lucrative deals. However, recent evidence suggests brokers are not the only ones travelling. Transplant tourism is becoming more and more common, where kidney sellers travel abroad for the operation. Often they are provided with airfare, accommodation and even sightseeing tours.
Foreign Policy reports that Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa, emerged as common meeting points for several years, before South African authorities broke up an organ trafficking ring involving South Africans, Israelis and Brazilians in 2003.
Source: Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Organs Without Borders, Foreign Policy, January/February 2005.
For FP text (subscription required) http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/files/story2748.php
For more on Health Issues: Organ Transplants and Other Expensive Technologies http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 22 March 2005
