ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has placed the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) under the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS).

The authority previously worked under the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

Talking to Dawn, NHS Secretary Ayub Sheikh said that the ministry will first get a new administrator for HOTA. “Second, we will add more experts to the monitoring authority, some amendments will be made in the laws and it will be ensured that the authority is made effective,” he said.

“We are also moving HOTA records to the NHS ministry, so we know about its weaknesses and flaws and how to address them,” he added.

The ministry of NHS is primarily responsible for devising policies for the regulations of institutions.

One the organs of one person can save the lives of 27 people, however, there is no trend for or awareness about organ donation in the country. Because of the unavailability of human organs, they are sold on the black market, in which a number of health institutions and departments are also involved.

A number of bills are being discussed in parliament for regulating human organ transplants and in July this year, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights suggested increasing punishments for the illegal trade in human organs and put a ban on visas acquired for medical treatment in the country.

During a meeting, a representative of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Dr Mirza Naqi Zafar said the trade in human organs is continuously increasing in the country and people from all over the world come to Pakistan for organ transplants. According to Dr Zafar, the price for one organ is between Rs4 million and Rs10 million though the person who sells the kidney is given just a nominal amount.

He said the business was more common in Punjab, where half the residents of some villages had sold their kidneys. He added that a number of people were also taken to China and other countries for liver transplants and that the donors had died due to the sensitive and complicated process for donating a part of the liver. After they had died, the victims were declared missing.

Dr Zafar said SIUT had received a number of e-mails from various countries including Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait saying that people had had organ transplants in Pakistan and had developed complications. He had claimed that HOTA did not have a control over the issue.

A bill titled “The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2014”, tabled by MNA Kishwar Zehra was passed in March this year by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat. MNA Zehra is also an organ donor.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2016

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