ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: The government is all set to promulgate an ordinance for curbing human organs and tissues transplant trade, says a health ministry official.

The ordinance, which is likely to be enacted shortly, comes after government’s persistent failure to get the Human Organs and Tissues Transplant Bill approved by the cabinet, allegedly because of pressure from the powerful lobby engaged in kidneys’ trade.

At present Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where organ trade is not banned by law. Estimates show that the annual turnover of kidney business in Rawalpindi and Lahore is close to Rs980 million.

The watered-down version being introduced in the shape of ordinance vindicates that the lobby after having failed to stop a law from being enforced in the country has finally succeeded in getting its interests safeguarded, as the law allows the business to continue underhand.

A draft of the proposed ordinance available with Dawn shows that voluntary donations to non-related persons are being allowed -- something which was not part of the original bill prepared for the federal cabinet.

In case of non-availability of a related donor and if there is a threat to life of an end-stage renal patient, voluntary donation could be permitted, the draft ordinance says.

But at the same time reimbursements and defraying costs have been excluded from the scope of payments that have been disallowed. This, experts believe, is simply enough to permit the trade to continue under-ground, as the recipient would be paying the donor in one shape or the other.

Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood contests this perception, saying there are sufficient conditions in the ordinance to discourage the trade.

"This thing is being practiced in many countries," he said while quoting an example of Saudi Arabia.

Similarly, the definition for `close blood relatives' has been controversially widened to include `second-degree relatives', the wet mothers and their children.

Cadaver donation can either be done through a will by the donor or by permission of his/her next of kin. There is no provision for getting organs from unclaimed bodies in the proposed ordinance.

The ordinance, however, has some positives in it also. Once enforced, it would bar Pakistani citizens from donating organs to foreigners.

"Donations by Pakistani citizens shall not be permissible to citizens of other countries visiting Pakistan for medical and tourist purposes," the draft ordinance says.

The kidney business in the country dubbed “kidney bazaar” has been attracting transplant tourists from all over the world, who exploited rampant poverty in the country to conveniently get kidneys.

Prospective recipients from Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States pay up to $40,000 for a kidney, while donors get as little as $1,000-2,000 out of the deal.

Although the trade is banned in their own countries, a large number of patients coming here for transplant are actively supported by their embassies in finding donors.

Under the proposed ordinance, transplantation would be legally allowed only at medical institutions notified by the government.

Punishment for removal of human organs without authority has been increased from three years imprisonment and fine of Rs300,000 to five years jail term and fine of up to Rs1 million.