In discussions for Book of Negroes, human organ trafficking
brought up as the ‘modern version’ of the slave trade.
Blinded by my ignorance, I was shocked to hear that this was
still going on in the world.
I did some further research and learned that, in fact, the
illegal trade of organs is booming. For example, 10,000 black trade kidney
operations occur annually. That is more than one kidney every hour!
1. Victims are forced
or deceived to give an organ. One sad story is of Petar Sutovic, a
24-year old Serbian boy. His death was reported as a ‘drug overdose’, yet no
dead certificate was issued. His mother insisted on a second post mortem
inspection and then it was discovered that both his heart and his pancreas were
missing. His mother believes that his drug overdose death was staged.
2. Victims formally
or informally agree to sell an organ and are either not paid for this organ or
paid less than the promised price. Victims include people who are in
desperate situations, especially financially. Lebanon and Beijing are two
places where this type of organ trafficking is common. In Lebanon, many Syrian
refugees escaping the civil war sell their organs because, due to desperate
circumstances, they feel they have no other choice. After their treatment, they
are given no pain relievers or anti-inflammatories and provided with little basic
medical aid. In Beijing, people in desperate need of financial assistance will sell their kidneys for around $5,000 and 'transplant tourists' will purchase them for around $200,000.
3. Victims are
treated for an ailment, which may or may not exist. During treatment, organ(s)
are removed without the victims’ consent. Victims’ are usually homeless
people, migrant workers, people who are mentally disabled or handicapped and
illiterate persons.
Although all horrendous, the third category of organ trafficking is the one that sticks with me the most. Traffickers are preying on the silent- those that cannot fight for themselves due to their status in our society.
While reading this I am shocked and disgusted at the degree of insanity people are going to in order to profit from organs. I know that there is a high demand for organs since so many people's organs are shutting down due to disease. Clearly there are not enough organ donors to meet this demand. So, I did some research on how we can stop organ trafficking and scientist are actually trying to build organs in the lab now! Hopefully in the future growing organs for transplants will be in action and bring an end to organ trafficking!
ReplyDeleteWow, I just read this and I am disgusted! How can people be so inhumane? They don't even look at them as people, or even animals, they must look at them as if they are simply nothing. This also affects family and friends to a high degree, where if the victim had passed away for whatever reason was in a safe place... But finding out people took their organs? I would be distraught and sick. It's sad listening about what's happening in our world, still to this day. I agree with what you said, that the third category is most sickly. It reminds me of animals getting abused in homes, where they can't just simply walk away or tell the owners "stop it!" This post really opened up my eyes as I know it did for you!
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad that people do this for money. The fact that the people doing this can't even come to realize that these people are human; basically what Alex said in her comment. It is unfortunate that this is happening in our world still, and not a lot of people even knew this was going on. Overall, looking at all three categories, no matter what the circumstance is, the victims all were treated unfairly even if they agreed to this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately as long as there is a demand for organs there will be a black market for it because people see profit and the receivers of the organ want to live. This mostly happens in developing countries where people will literally do anything to keep themselves a float. Carmen said that there is research being done to build organs in labs and I think the only way to stop this is to continue to fund this research.
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