Commercial transplantation in Pakistan and its effects on Western countries

doi:10.1136/bmj.39559.489051.94

BMJ 2008;336:1378 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39559.489051.94

Views & Reviews

Personal View

Commercial transplantation in Pakistan and its effects on Western countries

M A Noorani, consultant transplant surgeon, Marylebone, London

maqsoodnoorani@yahoo.co.uk

See also Personal View doi: 10.1136/bmj.39559.626632.94

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In contrast to developed countries, where cadaveric donationis the main source of transplants, most of the world’spoor countries, including Pakistan, rely mainly on donationsfrom unrelated live donors. It is claimed that these donationsare voluntary, but in reality kidneys are often bought frompoor people to be transplanted into affluent recipients. Andwhere the donor is actually a relative, although on paper thedonation may seem to be motivated by altruism, in a male dominatedsociety such as Pakistan this is often not the case. Sadly thedonors, almost all of whom are female, typically have no sayin any affair connected to their lives. In my experience ofsurgery in Pakistan, 95% of donations from live relatives werefrom sisters, daughters, mothers, female cousins, or from oneof several wives.

In the past few years "transplant tourism" has become a lucrativebusiness in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and . . . [Full text of this article]

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