World Health Organization
Topic A – Illegal Organ Trafficking
BACKGROUND
One negative aspect of the rapid advancement of the medical sciences and
globalization has been the expansion of the illegal organ trade. The World Health
Organization (WHO) estimates that about ten per cent of the 63,000 kidneys
transplanted worldwide each year from living donors are acquired illegally.
Furthermore the issue of organ trafficking is not limited to just kidneys, but also
includes the liver, corneas, and other organs, which can easily be removed and
transplanted. In fact, the illegal organ trade is a US $1.2 billion industry. A global
increase in the frequency of kidney disease and a dwindling supply of viable kidneys
in Western nations coupled with the forces of globalization have led to a burgeoning
illegal organ trade in developing nations. The illegal organ trade raises important
social, economic, cultural, health, and safety issues. Organ trafficking is of great
importance because it endangers the lives of both the exploited donors and the
recipients, as the medical facilities in which these transplantations occur do not
meet international standards. Several studies have confirmed that the there is a
heightened frequency of medical complications, including the transmission of HIV
and the hepatitis viruses, in transplantations that use trafficked organs.
Trafficking in organs is a crime that occurs in two major categories. There are cases
where traffickers force or cheat victims into donating an organ. The other cases are
those in which donors agree either formally or informally to sell an organ and are
underpaid by brokers or duplicitous doctors. The illegal organ trade can then be
further divided into several subcategories. There are two main subsets: one involves
moving the recipient to another country for the operation and the second involves
moving both the donor and the recipient to a different country. Both of these kinds
of organ trafficking can be classified as transplant tourism.
There are several different sources that states can use to obtain organs. Potential
organ sources include live donors, deceased donors, and executed prisoners. The
most common source of organs is live donors. There is a marked difference between
the health of altruistic donors and those who donate their organs for financial gain;
those who do it for financial gain tend to be unhealthier.
PAST UN ACTION
Resolution 40.13 was the first resolution on organ trafficking passed by the World
Health Organization. The resolution passed in 1987 called upon the international
community to develop the guiding principles for human organ transplantation. In
1991 the WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue, and Organ Transplantation
were completed and the document was endorsed by the WHA in resolution 44.25.
The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially
Women and Children was adopted by the General Assembly in 2000 and entered
into force in 2003. In October 2003, clinicians, ethicists, scientists, and government
officials from twenty-three countries, representing all WHO regions met in Madrid
and analyzed the issue of organ transplantation. The findings of this summit were
published in the Madrid report. These summits produced resolution 57.18, which
was passed in 2004. The resolution urged states to increase the organ supply
through the use of both live donors and deceased donors in order to meet patient
needs. The protocol addresses many of the important questions regarding the organ
trade and serves as the ideal foundation for a comprehensive resolution on this
topic
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Are the ethical issues of consent and self-autonomy dictated by your country’s
culture?
2. Are there clearly defined codes of conduct for health care facilities and medical
professionals regarding unregulated paid organ donations?
3. How do we protect the most vulnerable populations from not being duped into
becoming organ donors by duplicitous doctor and organ brokers?
4. What responsibility do doctors, medical professionals, and healthcare facilities have
in the prevalence of organ trafficking?
FURTHER INFORMATION
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http://www.who.int/transplantation/en/
http://www.declarationofistanbul.org/
http://journals.lww.com/transplantjournal/Fulltext/2011/06151/Report_of
_the_Madrid_Consultation__Part_1_.6.aspx
http://cofs.org/home/
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/12/06-039370/en/
http://www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/en/about/trafficking-for-organtrade.html