ISLAMABAD, July 30: Three of the country’s most prestigious medical organisations on Monday suggested amendments to the proposed Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues ordinance.

A joint memorandum sent by the Transplantation Society of Pakistan, the Pakistan Society of Nephrology and the Pakistan Association of Urological Surgeons to the government said that the amendments were the minimum for the proposed ordinance to achieve its objective of ending organs trade.

The government has introduced several changes in the draft ordinance on the recommendation of Law Minister Wasi Zafar and Adviser to Prime Minister Sharifuddin Pirzada, who were asked by the federal cabinet in February to improve the text.

The revised draft, including the questionable clauses that are being seen as an attempt to legalise organ trade, will be presented to the cabinet on Wednesday on the instructions of the Supreme Court, which has given a one-month deadline to the government to enact the law.

A source revealed that the government, while receiving the proposed amendments, accepted that certain provisions of the draft law were against the premise of the law, which was to end commercialism in affairs of transplantation of human organs.

The associations suggested deletion of the provision regarding compensation to donors, saying the concept was incompatible with the concept of voluntary donation. They recommended that all living donors should be provided health insurance, recognised for their act of altruism and given preference for employment by the government.

They suggested that it should be made mandatory for the evaluation committee to ensure certain requirements prior to approval of non-blood relative donor to avoid commercialism, which included proof that the donor had altruistic relationship with the recipient for over a period of 10 years and that there was financial or social compatibility between the recipient and the donor.