Illegal kidney trade

The illegal organ trade continues to create problems in the country, as a combination of financial desperation among victim 'donors' and the greed of recipients and the doctors performing the procedures. The recent raid on a prominent private hospital in Islamabad, where the FIA arrested nine people, including a "well-known urologist", exposes how widespread the organ trafficking remains. Despite sporadic raids and arrests, far too many people are losing their kidneys to the illegal trade, sometimes without their knowledge and consent. It is a textbook example of forcing the poorest citizens to act as spare parts for the rich.

The network busted in Islamabad allegedly lured victims from the impoverished southern Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan, exploiting their desperation for paltry sums before selling their kidneys for millions. Making the situation even more horrifying is the fact that the level of exploitation is often much worse - at least these people were paid something. Earlier this year, a labourer was kidnapped in Rawalpindi, so that his kidney could be stolen and sold for transplantation to a wealthy foreign patient. That gang ran a sophisticated operation that offered "packages" to clients, mostly from the Middle East, that blended airport pickups and five-star hotel stays with backroom surgeries in residential basements. Then there are hundreds of cases at brick kilns, where the state continues to turn a blind eye to bonded labour and the abuses these virtual slaves face. Kiln workers are offered large sums to pay down their 'debts' in exchange for the vital organ, but are then underpaid and, due to the time it takes to heal, often end up where they started, with the kiln owner pocketing most of the money.

We have the laws on the books. What we need is stronger enforcement and prosecution, including going after people who pay for organs, which is already illegal in almost every country in the world. Long term, however, the cure for this problem will be poverty eradication.