Why You Need to Fear Illegal Organ Transplantation

In India, the first kidney transplant was much lauded as it represented the advancement of medical facilities and scope of enhancing medical services in the country.

Organ Transplant Rackets in India

With the global market for organs increasing by leaps and bounds, illegal and unethical agreements for sale of human organs became rampant in India.

Cornea transplantation, child heart transplants and kidney donations are carried out illegally in several hospitals across the country. 

 Shocking Facts about Illegal Organ Procurement

• India is reported to be the world’s biggest center for trade in human organs. What's  shocking is that this is supported by a hidden network of qualified doctors and paramedicals.
•  With regard to kidney rackets alone, the annual turnover in India is reported to be forty crores!
• Illegal rackets in India also extend to skin tissue or patches, cornea and placental tissue.

Further, the Voluntary Association of India estimates that removal of organs from live donors, with or without their consent, is growing across the country and worse, increasing every year!

What is Organ Transplantation?

When there is transplantation of an organ from one person’s body to another body, this process is known as the organ transplant. A donor is a person who is not less than 18 years of age and voluntarily offers o remove, transfer or give his/her  organ to the person who receives it (known as the recipient). Although an old man or woman can be a donor, a person who is insane, mentally ill or mentally unstable is excluded from the purview of the Act.

What is the Purpose of Organ Transplantation?

Typically, the purpose of organ transplant is to replace the recipient’s damaged organ with a fully efficient and healthy organ that belongs to the donor. Through organ transplantation, the recipient’s body will function normally. The donor may be either living or deceased. The following organs are usually donated to facilitate an organ transplant:

• Kidney
• Liver
• Heart
• Skin tissues
• Pancreas
• Lung
• Eye

Illegal Organ Transplantation and Organ Procurement in India

Several inefficiencies have corrupted the healthcare system in India, leading to shocking levels of illegal organ trafficking. The Government of India established the Human Organs Transplant Act 1994 to curb such illegal trafficking. The law exempted close relatives of the recipient such as siblings, parents or children, from the Act which meant that they could donate the organ without legal clearance.