Organ traffickers prey on poor

By Paul Tate

AMMAN- An increasing number of Jordanians are being lured into selling their kidneys as part of the growing illegal international trade in human organs, a top health official revealed on Tuesday.

Doctor Moumen Hadidi, spokesperson for the recently established National Commission to Promote Organ Donation, said a total of 81 cases of trafficking have been uncovered by authorities over recent months.

The official said authorities are working hard to track down brokers who prey on poor people in some of the Kingdom’s impoverished governorates.

Last month police arrested several men for allegedly enticing citizens in Ajloun and Salt into selling their kidney’s to clients outside the country, said Hadidi, adding that all of those arrested were Jordanians.

"These people work on a commission basis and prey on poor people in order to convince them to sell their kidneys and then facilitate their travel to a second country where the operations are performed," he told The Jordan Times.

Hadidi denied the increase in cases was directly related to poverty, but admitted that the profile of the typical donor is poor, unemployed and unskilled.

"Most of the donors are between the ages of twenty and forty years and are lured by the chance of making quick money," he said, adding that the going rate for a kidney is around $3,000.

The donation or selling and trading of organs for profit is strictly banned in Jordan with traffickers and brokers facing up to five years in jail and a JD20,000 fine.

Hadidi said the surgery to remove donated organs is carried out in a second country, and that brokers arrange all travel details and expenses.

He would not specify which country, but both Egypt and Pakistan are known to be regional hubs for the illicit trade due to social inequality and high poverty rates.

According the World Health Organisation (WHO), the trade in human organs is increasing globally, fuelled by growing demand as well as unscrupulous traffickers.

In Europe alone, there are currently 120 000 patients on dialysis treatment and about 40,000 people waiting for a kidney, a report by the European Parliamentary Assembly stated.

“There are no reliable data on organ trafficking — or indeed transplantation activity in general — but brokers reportedly charge between US$100,000 and US$200,000 to organise a transplant for wealthy patients”, according to the WHO.

A Ministry of Health official told The Jordan Times that a growing awareness about the seriousness of the problem led to the setting up of the commission, which in addition to investigating suspected cases has also started an awareness campaign to encourage Jordanians to donate their organs after death.

“About eight hundred people die every year in Jordan in road accidents. We should be encouraging the relatives of these victims to donate the organs of their loves ones. This way we can begin to reduce the demand,” said Hadidi.