Daily Times

LAHORE: Believe it or not, illegal organ transplantation has resurfaced in Punjab, as patients from certain developed countries visit Pakistan allegedly to buy organs for transplantation from local hospitals, revealed a letter written by Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Director Prof Adbul Hasan Rizvi to Punjab Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera.

Prof Rizvi expressed his concern on the illegal sale and purchase of human organs in Punjab and feared that Pakistan might become the market of human organ trade if stern action was not be taken against the culprits.

According to an email available with Daily Times, sent by Saudi Centre of Organ Transplantation Director and Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group (DICG) member Dr Faisal Shaheen, it was alleged that a Saudi patient named Khareezi Nourah Ibrahim, who had an unrelated transplant in Pakistan, was now admitted in King Fahd Hospital, Jeddah in a very bad condition. Another patient named Al Zahrani Saleh Abdullah, a Saudi national, also went through an unrelated transplant in Pakistan in May 2016 and now was admitted in same hospital. Both transplants were performed at Genix Healthcare Hospital in Punjab.

DICG is an international organisation that works under the World Health Organisation (WHO) to protect the poor and vulnerable from ‘transplant tourism’ and to address the wider problem of trafficking of human organs and tissues. Dr Rizvi is also a member of the DICG, as Pakistan is a signatory to the declaration.

Another letter, attached with the email, sent by Kuwait Transplantation Society President Dr Mustafa Al Mousawi, stated that he received a patient who came from Pakistan after unrelated kidney transplant with no catheter or drain and high creatinine. “Two weeks ago, I received a mother and son, both transplanted in Pakistan. The mother lost her kidney the next day after surgery due to renal art thrombosis. I removed the kidney and transplanted her again after one week on the same side of previous transplant. Both had infected wounds. The mother had massive bleeding and few days after admission, it was found that she had disruption of the anastomosis with macerated iliac artery. The kidney was removed and the artery was patched. Luckily she survived. The transplant was performed in Bader Medical Complex, Lahore by urologist Dr Waseem Abbas,” the letter added.

Dr Mustafa Al Mousawi also revealed that since the beginning of the year, he has received 11 patients from Pakistan alone. “This means there should be at least another 100 patients from Gulf States who were transplanted from unrelated donors in the same period. All patients seem to be transplanted in Rawalpindi and Lahore,” he added.

Dr David Landsberg, Nephrologist colleague in Vancouver, Canada, has brought to the attention of the DICG few cases including a 60-year-old woman from Vancouver, with polycystic kidney disease. The patient underwent kidney transplantation through a vendor in Rawalpindi at the Al Sayed Hospital on April 2, 2016. There was no documentation or medical record accompanying the patient as she returned to Vancouver. Email further stated that the patient felt confident of buying a kidney in Rawalpindi, as according to her it was an open secret.

Prof Rizvi said that sale of human organs was forbidden according to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 2010, and urged Punjab IG Mushtaq Sukhera to address the issue by imposing heavy penalty on the culprits.

“Due to the gravity of the situation and the fact that its was bringing bad name to the country, the IG is requested to record the contents of these emails as FIRs and set the law in motion,” he added.

After receiving the letter, the IG directed CCPO Lahore, CPO Rawalpindi and DPO Gujarat to initiate legal/criminal action against elements involved in such nefarious activities. A compliance report may be furnished to this office as soon as possible.