DOH to lift ban on organ donations for foreigners
By David Dizon, abs-cbnNEWS.com
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/02/10/doh-lift-ban-organ-donations-foreigners
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s new health secretary on Friday said he is bent on lifting a total government ban on organ donations to foreigners, raising fears that it would open the floodgates to state-sanctioned organ trafficking in the Philippines.
Speaking to ANC, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said he is opposed to a total ban on organ transplants to foreigners since it robs patients with end-stage renal failure the chance to live longer, better lives.
“We have priests and nuns here and expats who have lived here for years. Suppose a Filipino wants to donate them a kidney, does that mean they can’t receive it? Right now, it’s a total ban. It has to be a government regulated system. We will change the total ban on foreigners,” he said.
“Our position here is it should be allowed but through a strict regulation system,” Ona, the former executive director of the National Kidney and Transplantation Institute, said.
Ona said he is in favor of walk-in donors or living non-related donors who can donate a kidney even though they are not related to the patient. He also said he is open to giving a gratuity package to donors, which could go as high as P150,000 (approximately $3,200).
“I am open to that (gratuity packages). You have to define it. Tulong yun. It’s not payment. Tulong mo yun kung willing siyang magbigay ng kidney. Parang pasasalamat in the context of gratitude, not in the context of sales,” he said.
The new health chief said hospitals have ethics committees that follow strict guidelines in choosing non-related living donors. The guidelines state that living, non-related donors should not be coerced into the program and should have full knowledge of the procedure.
He said the guidelines are meant to ensure that organ donations are not commercialized.
“You don’t allow it for people who just want to sell their kidneys. You have to look at their intentions and their situation. It’s not as simple. Ibig bang sabihin kapag mahirap ka ay hindi ka na pwedeng maging donor? Wala ka nang capacity to help a fellow man because you will always be damned as a seller? Hindi ganun. Whether you are rich or poor, a person has the capacity to be charitable,” he said.
The proposal, however, was swiftly opposed by Dr. Alberto Chua of the Philippine Society of Nephrology.
Chua said the country has already made numerous gains since the total ban on foreign organ transplants was implemented in 2008. He said the Philippines was previously identified as one of 5 world “hotspots” for human organ trafficking before the ban.
He also said the government already allows organ donations from living, related donors up to the 4th level of consanguinity. The DOH has also issued an administrative order establishing a deceased donors program, he added.
Chua said offering a gratuity package to living, non-related donors will restart an organ market in the Philippines.
“These establishments offer P150,000 in gratuity package for donors. If I was a tricycle driver who only earns P3,000 a month, maybe I would sell my own kidney to get that P150,000,” he said.
Chua said his group is willing to go straight to President Benigno Aquino if the new health secretary lifts the ban on foreign organ donations.
“We don’t have objections specifically to Dr. Ona as a person. We know he is good administratively. He has made several great improvements to NKTI and we are proud for him but we are afraid that all the gains that we have made will be wasted [if he lifts the ban],” he said.
