Organ Trafficking - A Growing Problem with No Easy Solutions
The organ trade is a complex crime that is fuelled by the high demand for organ transplants and rising global inequalities. The root causes of the trade need to be addressed and stronger responses are needed to tackle the more organised and exploitative forms of the trade, writes Frederike Ambagtsheer for The Conversation Africa.
Organ trade is the illegal sale and purchase of organs for financial or material gain. It is a serious problem that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, such as those living in poverty or conflict zones. The WHO estimates that 5% of all transplants performed worldwide are illegal, and the most commonly reported form of organ trade is the sale of living donor kidneys. The increased value of organs makes them more profitable, which fuels the desire of some people to trade and sell them. Global developments and catastrophes such as the widening gap between the rich and poor, conflicts, famine, climate change, and forced migration further increase the risk of organ sale and exploitation among the world's vulnerable populations. It is important to raise awareness of this issue and to work to prevent organ trafficking and exploitation.
In March 2023, a Nigerian politician Ike Ekweremadu his wife, and a medical middleman were found guilty of an organ-trafficking plot after they brought a man to the UK from Lagos to sell his kidney. Several months later in Kenya, following the arrest of a televangelist on charges of a mass killing of his followers, autopsies on the corpses revealed missing organs, raising suspicions of forced organ harvesting. And, in 2020, researcher Sean Columb exposed how numerous African migrants sold their kidneys in Egypt's capital city Cairo, in hopes of using the earnings to pay smugglers to take them across the Mediterranean into Europe.
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Nigeria:
Illegal Organ Trade Is More Sophisticated Than One Might Think - Who's Behind It and How It Could Be Controlled
The Conversation Africa, 27 June 2023
Every now and then the trade in human organs makes national, even international, news. Read more »
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Africa:
Human Organs for Transplant - 5 Steps Africa Must Take to Improve the Supply Chain
The Conversation Africa, 22 June 2023
Medical science has made tremendous advancements over the past 70 years. One of these is the transplant of human organs from one person to another. The first transplant - a kidney… Read more »
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Nigeria:
Organ Trafficking - UK Court Jails Ekweremadu 10 Years
This Day, 6 May 2023
Former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu was yesterday handed a nine years and eight months jail term for organ trafficking by the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey,… Read more »
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Uganda:
Parliament Sets Tough Penalties for Human Organ Trade
Independent (Kampala), 30 September 2022
Parliament has passed the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill, 2022 setting tough penalties for dealing in human organs for commercial purposes. Read more »
InFocus
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Nigeria's former senate president Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and a medical doctor Obinna Obeta (who acted as the middleman) were have been jailed over an organ harves Read more »
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The discovery of 12 more bodies in an investigation linked to a Kenyan cult on Monday 17 July brings the total number of fatalities in the cult starvation mass grave site to over Read more »
(File photo).