A shameful trade

MANILA, Philippines - Three years ago I wrote two lengthy opinion letters, one in this newspaper and in another Manila daily. In both letters, I condemned the rampant immoral sale of kidneys from live donors. Although I have long known that this practice continuous unabated in our country, I was shocked to watch a documentary on cable TV (Destiny) about this shameful trade.

Three years later Circa 2011. After a tiring hospital work, I was home at 12 noon, took my lunch and went up to my room for my usual nap before I start my 3-hour or more afternoon clinic, after all I am already nearing my 80th birthday. I scanned the international news on my cable (Destiny) channel but found nothing worth while to listen to until I reached the Aljazeera station which showed a picture of about a dozen young men which I recognized were Filipinos. They were all half-naked and showing their oblique scars on the right or left flanks. The newscaster who I believed is a Filipina, Ms. Marga Ortigas mentioned that their story will be told later and that took about 15 minutes. It was 1:15 p.m. Saturday, January 22, 2011. She reported the rampant sale of kidneys by young Filipino men in Lopez, Quezon. She said that each received $2,000 for their kidneys. I wonder whether this amount excluded the brokers fee. All regretted having sold their kidneys and they were no better off.

Ms. Ortega posed the questions on why this immoral practise persist in our country and she gave three answers namely: poverty, failure to implement the law on organ trafficking and most shameful of all, unethical doctors. How else can this abhorable practise continue unabated without the latter. I remembered having been invited to attend a meeting of doctors involved in kidney transplantation about three years ago. It was a well-attended conference organized by the Department of Health and held in San Lazaro Hospital compound in Manila. All agreed in unison to regulate and ban the immoral aspect of kidney transplantation from live donors. When I heard that Aljazeera newscast I realized that after 3 years all that was said in that meeting in San Lazaro Hospital came to naught.