DOH names 8 health facilities that violated organ transplant law

MANILA, Philippines - Eight out of the 24 health facilities that accept kidney transplantations in the Philippines have violated the law limiting the number of such procedure done on foreign patients. This was disclosed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press conference Tuesday. According to Duque, kidney transplants done on foreign patients whose donors were not related to them have increased to 62 percent from 2002 to 2006. “In the past few years, there has been a reported increase in the number of kidney transplants done on foreign patients with kidneys coming from Filipino living non-related donors, most of them from poor communities,” Duque said. “It was also observed that the 10 percent limit in foreign transplants has been exceeded in many transplant facilities, both in accredited and non-accredited hospitals of the DOH,” he added. DOH records show that in 2006 alone, a total of 690 kidney transplants were done in the Philippines, 63 percent of which benefited foreign patients, mostly Arab nationals. Lawyer Nicholas Lutero, chief of the DOH legal department, identified the eight health facilities as Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu Doctors Hospital, Capitol Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center, Far Eastern University-NRMF, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, and St. Francis Cabrini Medical Center. Lutero said the eight medical facilities have been slapped with a cease-and-desist order (CDO) after it was found that they have violated the 10-percent cap for foreign patients. Meanwhile, a CDO was also imposed against the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, St. Luke’s hospital, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Capitol Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital, and Chinese General Hospital because of pending accreditation. Duque said the priority given to foreign nationals and the rampant illegal sale of organs in the country prompted the government to impose a total ban on kidney transplantation for foreigners. “This directive comes at a time when the Philippine government faces the ethical and moral imperative to protect Filipinos, particularly the poor, from the black market sale of internal organs,” he said. Duque reiterated that organ transplant is not part of the government’s medical tourism program where foreigners come to the Philippines for treatment and pleasure. He, however, clarified that foreigners can only be accommodated to have kidney transplant in the Philippines only if they have blood relations with their donors. - GMANews.TV