KARACHI, March 17: Despite its claims of having clamped down on illegal commercial kidney transplantation, the government has failed to put unethical medical practitioners out of business and abolish what is described as transplant tourism.
A latest communication from the president of the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation (MESOT), Dr Mustafa Al-Mousawi, from Kuwait, and his emails to some health concerns in Pakistan and abroad may be a source of humiliation for both the government and civil society, which has been endeavouring for the promotion of ethical kidney transplantation in the country.
Dr Mustafa wrote on March 16: “Yesterday we received a Kuwaiti patient transplanted in Lahore, Pakistan. The operation was performed at 3am and he was told to go back to Kuwait four days after his transplant. He came with retention of urine and with a stent in his bladder, not ureter.”
The Kuwaiti doctor further said that the patient had a short report signed by two urologists.
He further said the patient said that the hospital, where he was ‘facilitated’ in Lahore, was like a large house.
Later, according to Dr Mustafa, he made a call to a Pakistani doctor whose number was provided to him by the patient to ask about the reason for operating at 3am and sending the patient back so soon.
In his response, the doctor explained to him that the situation was more difficult after the law but admitted that they were still doing transplants for foreigners and that he had two more Kuwaiti patients waiting for transplants.
When one of the doctors (Dr S.H.), who is believed to have examined the transplant patient, was contacted by this reporter, he said he was a urologist at a government hospital in Lahore and had been referring kidney patients for transplants, but to governments-approved institutions only.
Replying to a question, he said he had also been examining the post-transplant patients, but at the moment was not in a position to exactly recall whether he had seen any foreigner at the hospital in recent weeks.
When reached over his cellphone at 9pm, another doctor, whose number was disclosed to MEAOT by the patient, told Dawn that he had been helping kidney transplant patients both from abroad and from within the country, but after the promulgation of a related ordinance things had become difficult.
“I have got a group of physicians and surgeons related to transplants, who are now avoiding surgeries fearing action for violation of the laws. I have been facilitating Kuwaiti visitors as well, but for the last about six weeks, there has been no transplant-related advancement,” he said, adding that in view of the elections and changes taking place in the government, “we are telling our customers to wait for another couple of weeks.”
The doctor said the transplant ordinance was clear about the cadaver or relative-donated organs in the case of Pakistani citizens, but the medical practitioners did not know how to respond when foreigners came to them with organ donation for a transplant.
It was further learnt that the MESOT president’s concern had also been forwarded to high-ups in the World Health Organisation. Dr Mustafa says that such activities should be checked in a foolproof manner, otherwise many centres would continue this malpractice despite the law and that would undermine the efforts to ban the living unrelated donation transplantation in Kuwait and other neighbouring countries.
About nine months back the President had promulgated an ordinance on transplantation of human organs and tissues ordinance, with the aim to end the exploitation of the poor, bring an end to organ trade and ensure an era of ethical living organ and cadaver donations in the country.
