Kidney selling now being done online in RP

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Kidney selling now being done online in RP
By Mayen Jaymalin Updated December 13, 2008 12:00 AM

Filipinos are now selling their kidneys and other organs online. Medical experts reported yesterday that syndicates are now using online marketing, offering organs to prospective foreign and local buyers.

Dr. Benita Padilla of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) said online organ selling has become rampant in the country despite the ban on organ trafficking.“If you will check the websites, there are numerous kidney-for-sale advertisements. This form of online advertising should be prohibited,” Padilla said.

A 34-year-old Filipino from Manila, who claims to be financially distressed, is among those offering one of his “healthy” kidneys for sale on the website Pinoyambisyoso.com.

But Padilla admitted that Filipinos are not the only ones selling their organs on the Internet as people of other nationalities, like Colombians, are doing the same.

According to Padilla, organ trafficking is a common problem in the Philippines and other countries where poor people are forced to sell their organs to get some money.

She said the worldwide shortage of available organs for transplantation has encouraged commercial trafficking of human organs, particularly among living unrelated donors.

Dr. Alberto Chua of the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Hospital noted that 51 percent or 536 of the total kidney transplant recipients last year were foreigners.

Many depressed areas in the country – including Baseco, Tondo, Caloocan, Novaliches, Montalban, Carmona, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Masbate, Samar, Surigao, Agusan, Zamboanga, Davao and North Cotabato – have been identified as hot spots for kidney and organ trading.

To curb the rampant organ selling in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) has banned kidney transplants on foreigners utilizing living donors.

While the ban has resulted in a 50 percent drop in kidney transplants in the country this year, Chua said there is still much to be done to prevent organ selling among Filipinos.

After the imposition of the ban, Padilla said kidney transplants were performed on foreigners who came to the country with living donors.

“We were told that the donors were the relatives of the foreigners but we cannot be sure because other people from poor countries are also selling their organs,” Padilla said.

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