ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: The 15-year-long wait for a law for curbing the thriving kidney trade and regulating the transplantation of human organs came to an end on Monday when the government promulgated the Transplantation of Human and Tissues Ordinance 2007.

President Musharraf had given his assent to the ordinance and it had come into force with immediate effect, federal Health Secretary Khushnood Lashari told Dawn.

The ordinance stipulates stringent punishment for people engaged in dealing in organs and unauthorised removal of organs, narrows down opportunities for unrelated donations, bans donations to foreigners, provides for treatment of post-operative care of indigent patients, designates transplant institutions and mandates setting up of evaluation committees at the institutions for evaluating transplant cases, legalises cadaver organ donation and underlines informed consent.

The ordinance, which provides immunity for ‘actions taken in good faith’, also has a provision for intervention by the president in case of difficulties in its enforcement.

Meanwhile, the process for legislation in the National Assembly is continuing and the relevant standing committee is meeting on Tuesday to carry forward the process.

The government had tabled the bill in the National Assembly on August 17, the last day of the previous session, prompting apprehensions that the law might be delayed because the tenure of the assembly was coming to an end and sensual political issues were likely to dominate the session. However, public outcry forced the government to rethink its strategy and promulgate the ordinance to end misgivings that it had been influenced by the lobby patronising organ trade in the country.

Mr Lashari termed the promulgation of the ordinance an ‘outcome of the collective effort of the society’. President of the Transplant Society of Pakistan Dr Adibul Hassan Rizvi welcomed the ordinance and said it would end exploitation of the poor.