DOH issues 2 orders to fight organ trafficking in RP

The Department of Health (DOH) has issued two administrative orders to fight organ trafficking in the Philippines, especially the selling of kidneys to foreign patients. Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral issued on Wednesday revised rules on donating and transplanting organs from living persons through Administrative Order 2010-0018, which seeks to ensure that organ donations are “voluntary and truly altruistic." The new administrative order reiterates the ban imposed on foreigners from receiving organs from living Filipino non-related donors, and categorically prohibits health professionals from engaging in kidney trade. “We issued the order because wanted to make sure that nobody is exploited during the transplantation, and that organs are donated only for altruistic purposes," Cabral told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Friday. The DOH order, which provides implementing guidelines for Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008, likewise states that kidney transplantation is “not part of medical tourism" in the country. “We also wanted to make sure that illegal traffic of organs that has victimized many of our countrymen for many years will not be repeated," Cabral added. The World Health Organization identified in 2005 the Philippines as one of the global hotspots for organ trafficking, along with China, Pakistan, Egypt and Colombia. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered in 2008 the total ban on all kidney transplant to foreigners following criticisms that her administration is promoting transplant tourism. (See: RP bans foreigners from receiving kidneys for transplant) The administrative order is also in response to the Declaration on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism signed by the Philippines and other countries two years ago in Istanbul, Turkey. National program for organ sharing Cabral also issued last Wednesday Administrative Order 2010-0019, which seeks the establishment of a national program for sharing of organs from deceased donors. AO 2010-0019 provides a “more comprehensive system" for the allocation, harvesting and transplantation of organs from deceased donors to Filipinos, according to Cabral. “We want to provide people who need kidneys with the kidneys they need," she said, adding that 9,000 Filipinos develop permanent kidney failure each year. Under the new order, each region is required to have a designated organ procurement organization, which will comprise the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (PHILNOS). Cabral said that while the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) has been doing its job in human organ preservation since 1983, the deceased donation rate in the country remains low in the country. “Hopefully, with this program, the international medical community will once again recognize that our country is indeed serious in curtailing illegal organ donation and at the same time strengthen our deceased donor program which has been known to be effective in other countries," she said.—JV, GMANews.TV