Organ Trafficking

Can the smuggling of human organs be stopped?

  • By:Sarah Glazer
  • Content Type: Report
  • Publisher: CQ Press
    • Publication year: 2011
    • Online pub date:
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/cqrglobal20110719

Introduction

Headline-grabbing arrests of kidney brokers and renegade doctors provide glimpses into a global black market in human organs that is thriving from South America to Asia. The World Health Organization estimates that 5–10 percent of the 100,000 organs transplanted each year have been purchased illegally, typically from poor people desperate for cash. In China, thousands of organs reportedly have been forcibly removed from prisoners to feed a lucrative “transplant tourism” business. The full scope of the global organ black market remains unknown because transplant doctors and hospitals either don't know the organs were trafficked or are complicit in the deals. Critics say hospitals should disclose the source of all transplant organs so illegal sales can be tracked. Some doctors say legalizing government payments to organ ...

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