August 10, 2007	Friday	Rajab 25, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 9: An inter-ministerial committee on Thursday approved the draft of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance of 2007, incorporating federal cabinet’s recommendations.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is expected to advise President Musharraf to promulgate the ordinance once the National Assembly’s session is prorogued.

On Aug 1, the federal cabinet had referred the ordinance to the inter-ministerial committee for fine-tuning the text after approving it in principle and recommending certain changes, addressing concerns of doctors and civil society.

The most significant change made in the draft is removal of the clause regarding compensation for donors. Section 3(2) of the previous draft had provision for compensation, which implied an attempt to legalise commercial dealings in organs.

The amended section regarding non-related donations now states that “in case of non-availability of a related donor, the evaluation committee may allow donation by a non-related donor after satisfying itself that such donation is voluntary”.

Subsequent to this amendment, the committee also amended Section 8(5) regarding a fund for indigent patients, which could now be used only for post-transplant care and medicines for indigent patients.

Another major amendment is enhancement in punishment for people indulging in organs trade.

Through another amendment, the composition of evaluation committees for scrutinising donation cases has been enlarged to include two local notables. The committee previously included only medical specialists.