ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Health experts have asked the new government to immediately enact an organ transplant law, the absence of which has made Pakistan a hub of kidney trade.

"The cities of Rawalpindi and Lahore have become centres where scores of foreigners especially Arabs are coming for kidney transplant by exploiting poor donors, who sell their kidney without realizing the adverse impact on their health," Dr Saeed Akhtar, a renowned urologist, told Dawn on Saturday.

The kidney trade and transplant are being done in the two big cities by doctors who are not experts in the field and who operate in small places without proper facilities, a practice which is against medical ethics, norms and standards, Dr Akhtar claimed, adding that the practice not only put the lives of the donor in danger but also the patient.

Dr Akhtar who served as a urology and transplant surgeon in the University Hospital of Texas (US) is currently the head of urology and kidney department in a local hospital.

Though he could not substantiate the exact volume of the trade, Dr Akhtar claimed that the trade had reached an alarming proportion but due to the absence of law, there existed no book- keeping to ascertain the real-time data.

Before Pakistan, India was the centre of kidney trade but after the Indian government declared the practice illegal through a law, patients are flocking here to buy organs.

The mafia involved in the practice has developed different packages for Arabs ranging between $12,000 to $20,000 but passed a very paltry amount to the needy donors that too without giving them the back up support necessary to maintain their health, Dr Akhtar said.

He also supported Cadaveric Transplant law, which he said, had been declared legal in countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait apart from Western countries.

The cadaveric transplant law would not only discourage the illegal transplant of organs but also save lives of scores of patient as under the law, organs like kidney, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas etc could be transplanted to the needy patients from a person declared brain dead.

This was done after prior permission of the family members of the deceased who died in accidents etc.