Organ patients driven abroad by desperation

Kate Foster

July 31, 2007

INCREASING numbers of British patients waiting for organ transplants are becoming so desperate that they are travelling abroad to spend thousands of pounds on risky operations, new figures have revealed.

Data released by UK Transplant, the NHS authority which supervises the organ waiting list, showed the demand for kidneys has led patients to Asia and Africa for life-saving operations.

The figures reveal for the first time the true extent of "transplant tourists" risking higher rates of death and infection by having transplants in India, Pakistan and China, where many of the world's poorest people sell their kidneys.

Last night doctors urged British patients against the drastic move, no matter how desperate they are to receive a new organ.

Last week, Scotland on Sunday launched its campaign for a change in the law on organ donations to introduce an opt-out system. This would mean everyone is considered a potential donor unless they object in their lifetime. Experts believe this could dramatically increase the number of organ donors.

There is a huge shortage of organs for transplant. A total of 6,414 patients, or almost 90% of the NHS transplant list, are awaiting a kidney.

UK Transplant's data shows that the number of patients travelling overseas has grown from a handful each year in the 1980s and early 1990s to 27 last year. Since 2000, 170 British patients, including 22 Scots, have gone abroad for the surgery.

Half went to Pakistan and one-quarter to India, while others travelled to the Philippines, Iran, China and Egypt.

The practice of buying organs is legal in all of these countries except India and Egypt where, despite the law, the trade flourishes because of poverty.

The UK Transplant figures on operations undertaken abroad show that in 57% of cases the kidney came from a living donor who was not related to the participant, leading experts to believe that they came from people who had sold their organs.

Kidneys can be bought for around £15,000, but much of the money is kept by those organising the operation and the donor often receives little more than £1,000.

Last night, experts warned foreign donors were driven to sell their organs by poverty and called for the introduction of presumed consent in the UK to increase the number of organs and help stamp out the trade.

Dr Indranil Dasgupta, a consultant nephrologist from Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, has studied the case notes of 32 patients who travelled overseas for treatment.

Four of them died within two months of their transplant and in a further four cases the organ failed. Two thirds of all the patients suffered infections, including hepatitis C.

Dasgupta said: "By the sheer number of patients who die or lose their kidney, we should be actively discouraging this.

"I fully support the introduction of presumed consent as I think it would go a long way to address the problem."

Last night Michael Nicholson, professor of transplant surgery at the University of Leicester, and special adviser to Kidney Research UK, said: "I would strongly advise against any patient seeking to pay for an organ for transplant abroad. We seriously need to review the whole of the transplant infrastructure within the UK."

There are over 14 million people on the organ donor register and last week there were 7,317 patients on the waiting list.

Minister for Public Health Shona Robison has not ruled out a change in the law but claims there has so far been "little support" for the move, a claim disputed by the British Medical Association.

FROM NEAR-DEATH TO DOUBLE GOLD GLORY, TEENAGE STAR URGES PUBLIC TO REGISTER

ON Friday Ifrah Raza won her second gold medal in badminton at the Transplant Games in Edinburgh.

But just six years ago she almost died when her kidneys failed. She is alive today because her uncle Ijaz Bashir gave her one of his kidneys.

Yesterday, the 17-year-old student backed Scotland on Sunday's campaign for a change in the law and asked readers to join the organ donor register.

She said: "No one knows why my kidneys failed, but they had to be taken out. The doctors tested my family to see if there was a potential donor. My dad was a match, but his blood pressure was too high for the operation. Then we discovered my uncle was also a good match.

"He said 'yes' as soon as he found out. We have always been close, but I just don't know how to thank him. The gift of life is the best you can get."

Both are well since the operation in 2003. Despite only having one kidney Bashir goes to the gym and plays football while his niece plays badminton.

She said: "I would encourage as many people as possible to join the organ donor register. I support the campaign for presumed consent as long as those who objected to organ transplantation are able to opt out."

Copyright © 2007 The Scotsman.com.

This article posted August 19, 2007.