THE factors that together give sustenance to illegal organ transplantation exist here in plenty — greed, abject poverty, ignorance and weak rule of law. That is why this is a racket the authorities must always keep an eye out for; any complacency could result in the practice taking root once again. The Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority has taken notice of some rather skewed data pertaining to transplant surgeries at the 60 government and private hospitals in the province that are authorised to carry out the procedure. According to the figures, not only is the number of transplant surgeries small considering the potential, but the government hospitals have performed only 40pc of the total 44,000 such procedures during the last four years. Moreover, of these, 95pc have taken place at only two government health facilities. As a result, PHOTA has initiated an exercise to assess the facilities offered by the private and public hospitals with the objective of creating an enabling environment for ethical organ transplantation.

The initiative is a sensible one, taking its cue from data that does not seem to stack up — a situation that if allowed to persist may become a factor in the revival of the organ trade. Several years ago, Pakistan had acquired global notoriety as an organs bazaar where ‘transplant tourists’ could fly in and, for a hefty price, buy themselves a ‘new’ kidney. After the practice was criminalised in 2007, the incidence of illegal transplantation — whether pertaining to foreign or local patients — declined drastically for some time. But lax implementation led to this exploitative business again spreading its tentacles, especially in the impoverished hinterland of Punjab. The savvy criminals that play different roles in the racket devised ingenious tactics to evade detection, which included setting up discreet operating theatres inside private residences. In the last few years, the FIA busted several organ trafficking rings and this disrupted the trade in organs to a large extent. However, recent stories illustrate that remnants of the illegal business continue to thrive underground. Only last month, FIA nabbed several members of a huge organ trade ring, including doctors and agents, that had been carrying out their illegal activities in Punjab and KP. What is needed is strict implementation of the law. Instead, even the health professionals that are caught tend to make bail and go right back into medical practice, sometimes repeating their criminal pursuits without any consequences.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022