when humans turns vultures…
…the illegal trade in human organs.
On July 17, 2004, the Scientific and Technology Museum of Taiwan held an exhibition of human anatomy. At the exhibition, all the human bodies and organs on display were provided by the Medical Association of China. Prior to the exhibition it was alleged that some of the bodies and organs were illegally obtained from executed Chinese prisoners.
It’s no secret in China that Chinese policemen, judges, and doctors work together to steal organs from corpses of dead criminals.
The trade in human organs is now a profitable venture in China. Foreigners from Southeast Asia, Taiwan or even Canada seek kidney transplants in China where Shanghai has become the main center for organ transplants. According to reliable sources within the Shanghai Police department, some police officers are conspiring with greedy doctors to sell the organs of dead prisoners for large sums of money.
Just a few days ago,
I was told transplant surgery
was a major break through, and as a result
people are living longer; makes the world a better place.
My criticism of organ transplants was
likened to taking civilisation back a “million years”
to the times of prehistoric cave dwelling ancestors.
Sadly the blogger has deleted both our comments since.
Today I read this. Organ Trade Thrives in Indian Slums.
Jogesh Amalorpavanathan, the organ transplant coordinator at the public Central Hospital in Chennai, is only too familiar with the situation. He explains that the illegal organ trade only works because of the well-rehearsed cooperation between crafty money lenders, dubious middlemen and corruptible state employees.
Not entirely an honest statement Mr Amalorpavanathan,
no illegal trade can exist, unless unscrupulous doctors themselves are involved.
It is not a DIY job, only a highly trained surgeon with a specialised team can do it.
“We know an organized organ trade exists,” says C. Ravindranath, the former chairman of the Authorization Committee. “It’s just that we can’t prove it.”
Mr Ravindranath
you are not trying hard enough.
or maybe you are turning a blind eye.
Transplant surgery is not a minor operation
that can be performed on a kitchen table with a bread knife.
Authorities only have to look into the expensive private hospitals for evidence.
And there is more…Indian police probe kidney sales by tsunami victims
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) – Police in southern India say they have uncovered evidence of illegal trade in kidneys sold by poor fishermen and their families whose livelihoods were destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago.
Community leaders in Eranavoor village, just north of Chennai, admitted that about 100 people, mostly women, have sold their kidneys for 40,000-60,000 rupees ($900-$1,350) since the December 26, 2004, disaster.
And more…Organ Trafficking in Eastern Europe
Organ harvesting operations flourish in Turkey, in central Europe, mainly in the Czech Republic, and in the Caucasus, mainly in Georgia. They operate on Turkish, Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Romanian, Bosnian, Kosovar, Macedonian, Albanian and assorted east European donors.
They remove kidneys, lungs, pieces of liver, even corneas, bones, tendons, heart valves, skin and other sellable human bits. The organs are kept in cold storage and air lifted to illegal distribution centers in the United States, Germany, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, and other rich, industrialized locales. It gives “brain drain” a new, spine chilling, meaning.
Organ trafficking has become an international trade. It involves Indian, Thai, Philippine, Brazilian, Turkish and Israeli doctors who scour the Balkan and other destitute regions for tissues. The Washington Post reported, in November 2002, that in a single village in Moldova, 14 out of 40 men were reduced by penury to selling body parts.
Why can’t we accept some terminal illnesses as incurable?
Why can’t we accept death as an uncheatable inevitability for every single one of us?
Makes me reiterate my question,
why do we need this form of treatment
prolonging life only by a few years or maybe a few months
where only the recipients benefits at the expense of the donors?
Where the recipients wait patiently like a vulture, ‘praying’
for another human to die so that they can live for just a few years more.
life
death
organ transplant
black market
human rights
flowerchild said this on June 15th, 2007 at 18:08
Just wondering…would you be thinking the same way if a loved one was the one requiring a transplant? ( refering to the last para)
little indian said this on June 15th, 2007 at 19:43
Thanks for the question.
I had given up hope of getting any response.
I guess the many who have read this, thinks its trash.
The answer to your question is, yes.
What I said is not just a passing statement.
This is a belief that has grown in me over many years.
If I change my stance, when it directly involves me, would be hypocrisy.
We are forgetting that death is an <b>inevitable</b> end.
Transplants do not give immortality, it just prolongs life.
I do not believe in adding extra years to life,
at the cost of someone’s poverty, misfortune or someone’s grief.
If someone very close needs a kidney,
I am prepared to donate one of my own,
But I would never agree to ‘buy’ an organ for them,
neither would I sit and pray for a fatal accident to happen.
As long as one can get organs for free, ie in UK,
or cheap, ie from the subcontinent, or eastern europe
it is a great form of treatment and to oppose it is a sacrilege.
If it is such a significant medical advance,
why is there a ‘shortage’ of organs in the rich west,
and why westerners have to procure their organs from the third world?
Transplant surgery can only be clean and moral
when humans learn to grow artificial organs for replacement.
How many recipients of organs would themselves donate, you reckon?
What if the policy is you get a liver in return give up a kidney?
Or someone in the family donates back in return,
how many would you think will take up on that condition?
Or even better,
all transplant surgeons gives a kidney
to get license to practice (they earn a fortune doing it).
I cannot make the decision for others,
the legislation also stops me from preventing others.
But if I am the patient, I will refuse
I have made it absolutely clear to my folks.
I firmly belief the current practice is morally wrong.
What about you?
What if I ask you the same question,
would you be happy to buy an illegally harvested organ?
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BTW, flowerchild,
Your blog refused to
accept my comments to your last post.
I tried twice, it just kept disappearing.
Have you banned me or something?
flowerchild said this on June 15th, 2007 at 20:11
I honestly don’t know how this whole process works. I thought one has to ‘buy’ organs in order to get a transplant done. And the question I asked was based on that assumption. I wonder if people bother checking background details(except medical details) when they get an organ.
Your reply and the last para of your post has got me a little confused. Are you against organ transplant on the whole? Or only if the transplant is being done using an organ obtained illegally?
And about my blog…I don’t know why that’s happening !! I checked if your comment was taken as spam but that also hasn’t happened. And ban you? Didn’t know I could do that ! 😛
little indian said this on June 15th, 2007 at 20:54
I am now against the whole issue of organ donation,
where the recipient suffers any form of detriment.
If buying organs is an acceptable practice,
why we do not see the rich people selling theirs?
Why such a shortage of donors in the rich ‘west’,
for patients to travel to poor east to buy organs?
I do not object to
blood transfusion (that is a form of transplant)or
bone marrow transplants, the donor do not suffer permanent damage.
Neither do I object to voluntary donation of organs, ie kidneys.
But when we go into
hearts and lungs and livers,
unfortnately one human has to die for another to live.
This is where the grey area starts.
Where the black market in organs thrives.
The basic principles of the process is such,
it favours the criminals, and exploits the weak and the poor.
It is also certain this illegal trade
would not have been possible without involvement of
some unscrupulous money hungry psychopathic doctors, who have no conscience.
There was this case in Delhi
(? – I have lost the BBC weblink)
where many childrens’ skeletons were recovered,
it was suspected they were abducted and killed for their organs.
How many prisoner were executed without a retrial?
How many ITU resuscitators are switched off too quickly?
How many street children disappears never to be found again?
Every single one, is one too many.
Just like cloning is still illegal,
I believe so should be transplantation,
with criminal liability for any doctor who participates.
That is the only way of stopping this cruel exploitation.
It is easy, if we learn to accept death will take us all oneday.
earthpal said this on June 16th, 2007 at 07:26
Little Indian, sadly there will never be a shortage of people ready to feed off the wretchedness of others. And what makes it worse is that many of our “caring” health-professionals (doctors, surgeons) are willing to exploit.
some British medics are calling for the organ trade to be licensed to reduce its activities on the black market and to minimise “transplant tourism”.
Personally, I think if a person wishes to freely donate their organs after death then that is their right. But I strongly agree with you in that the organ should not be “for sale”. it should be donated freely and implanted freely.
Making them saleable items results in the wealthiest being first in the health queue yet again. And it would also result in poorer people who are desperate to see their loved ones recieve a transplant, making themselves bankrupt in order to buy the organ.
You make some very good points here Little Indian. And I totally hear what you’re saying regarding the moral issues here too. I too would definitely refuse an illegally-harvested organ. I remember the cas about the childrens bodies being recovered. It disturbs me immensely to know that this sort of thing goes on.
I also hear you about simply accepting the inevitability of death. We live in a world were we think we can now conquer death . . . a world where we meddle and interfere with the natural proccess so much so that we believe we are gods.
That said, I’m sure as a mother, I would take advantage of any medical progress that would help my child if the need ever arose. But certainly not if another child was deliberatly killed for it.
earthpal said this on June 16th, 2007 at 07:30
Sorry it took me a while to respond to this post. It’s not trash at all. It’s an excellent post. I wanted to do it justice rather than rush a comment through but I’ve been a bit busy lately so it had to wait. Such is life with three active kids. Lol.
Hope you are well Little Indian. Warmest wishes.
little indian said this on June 16th, 2007 at 09:45
Thanks earthpal,
this is one issue that raises
aggressive and often rude comments
especially from the medical professionals.
Which I strongly feel is a head in the sand attitude.
As if to say,
‘saving’ one life justifies
(not really saving, only prolonging)
the human rights abuses, the lies and deceptions,
stealing, forcibly removing or even killing others.
I would like to see
every transplant surgeon
donating one of their own kidneys
to show that it is safe to risk a life with only one kidney.
I am certain only a few of them will agree to set the example.
flowerchild said this on June 16th, 2007 at 18:26
Hmm.. I kinda got what your saying now ! And I’m gonna have to agree with you on this one.
little indian said this on June 16th, 2007 at 20:46
Wow! two people agreed.
I honestly did not expect any.
I have always been criticised for my views on this subject.
bendtherulz said this on June 18th, 2007 at 15:11
Please accept my appologies for not aggreeing with you on all points. If we take the situation where if we want to paint only black on a canvas – we will see only Black.
If you want to trash – trash ” certain” people , you can’t trash the system ( I am sure the people those who thought of trasnplant as life saving pratice were not so “Vision oriented ” when you talk of “organ trafficking”
Personally I have seen cases , where the trasplant was done, the patient body was not able to handle, died finally – the family ( partner to be precise) is still taking care of the person who donated the organ.
I have no idea wether we can really say – what exactly poverty means and does to people. For you buying an organ is illegal – fair enough !! However -think of a person – may be selling an organ means – avoiding death of 5 of his children. Do you think somebody would give money free to them….no na…!
little indian said this on June 18th, 2007 at 16:52
Fair enough, bendtherulz.
This is mild compared to what I have faced in the past. 🙂
I was prepared to answer more aggressive comments.
I know why people support transplant surgery.
They see it as a life saving procedure.
I count the cost someone else
has to pay for every transplant to succeed.
There are few issues where I do not accept grey zones, this is one of them.
If a person has to sell his kidney to save his children
the society has failed him. The world has gone wrong.
Next time he faces starvation what else will he sell?
His children’s kidneys? Perhaps.
He is now living with one functioning kidney,
and if that gets blocked or damaged
he dies, his five children along with him.
For he has sold off his back up, and no one will give him one.
The example you have given of a donor being looked after is a rarity.
Unfortunately I have to trash
the system and not individuals.
Transplant treatment is a team work.
From harvesting, typing, implanting
and then a lifetime of medical support.
For any illegal transplant to take place,
the whole system has to co-operate or it will not function.
Those who benefits from this, will see it as right
and only those who suffer will see it as wrong.
I am reluctant to believe there has never been
even a single patient or a relative who
has not prayed for an accident to happen,
for a healthy person to brain-die, so that themselves can live.
To me it is no different than a vulture waiting for someone to die.
Think of the millions being spent to develop
this treatment, which benefits only those who can afford.
When that money could have been used to save so many more
who are dying from lack of clean water, food shelter or simple cures.
It cannot be right.
bendtherulz said this on June 21st, 2007 at 07:40
Aggressive – na thats not my style.
We all know that 80% of weath is supposedly with 20%, there is an imbalance in world in that context – I agree – may be that needs to be corrected. However the certain path which are leading to discoveries to new ways/ experiments – we can’t stop those just because there is a disparity of wealth.
I am even surprising myself as I am one person who is happy to let the way things are…quite tradtional in so many ways.
Moreover – this is just my personal thought – we can’t condemn riches just because they are rich….isn’t that too harsh- they are rich, most of them have inched towards that state.
Also there are many those who are helping poor with their wealth ( for all the needs which you have mentioned – shelter/simple cures/clean water…)…that time we do not give credit to their efforts.Do you think that is right !!
Regards,
little indian said this on June 21st, 2007 at 23:13
I agree on progress in science and medicine.
Like I have no problems with stem cell research.
Neither do I have any objections
to artificial organs or even animal organs transplanted.
I am not condemning the rich for being rich.
I am an economic migrant myself, it would be hypocrisy if I did.
I will respect any wealthy philanthropist, who thinks of the less fortunates.
It is just this nature of the transplants surgery
and its ethical issues that I object to.
When the intense desire to live
will not stop us from wishing death of another.
Where the blackmarketeers will not hesitate to kill
to be able to get their ‘merchandise’.
I feel we should re-learn to accept
death’s inevitability and not go to such extremes to fight it.
I know my ranting will not change anything,
at least I know what action I will be taking under those circumstances,
and have the satisfaction of expressed my opinion out to the world.
bendtherulz said this on June 22nd, 2007 at 08:27
Thanks for your response – when you talk about merchandise manner – yeah its repungent ( just the thought…) I was just reacting to that all cases can’t be kept on same level.
No your rants are not going in empty space….!!
wanted dead - not alive « “me no big chief… said this on July 17th, 2007 at 09:47
[…] wanted dead – not alive I had written about the illegal organ trafficking. […]
» wanted dead - not alive-My 1983 said this on August 3rd, 2007 at 01:23
[…] I had written about the illegal organ trafficking. […]