Beware of organ transplant abroad

Zainab al Nassri - Muscat, June 21 - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has cautioned both citizens and residents planning to undergo organ transplant procedures, including kidney, liver and others, abroad. The ministry has asked them to “be sure of the agencies, institutions and people” they deal with. It has cautioned them about mafias involved in the trafficking of human organs. It asked them to ensure the institutions they are dealing with are legally recognised and authorised to perform such procedures in accredited hospitals in those countries as per rules and procedures. It suggested they seek help and information about accredited hospitals and rules in different countries from the Sultanate’s missions abroad, whose details have been published on the ministry’s website. Last May, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency arrested two Omanis, along with other nationalities, for procuring kidneys from an illegal clinic in the city of Lahore. According to reports, the clinic conducted illegal organ transplant procedures in a private housing society of Lahore. Doctors used to take out kidneys of local donors and sell them to foreigners for roughly RO 500. The Observer had reported 1,697 Omanis are currently suffering from chronic kidney diseases. The Ministry of Health’s renal transplantation programme has so far benefited 96 patients.