ISLAMABAD:
Bizarre as it sounds, a Pakistani has put his kidney up for sale at a leading
auction website of the
country.
In recent years,
Pakistan has emerged as one of the largest centres for commerce in renal
transplantation but an anonymous 26-year-old "healthy male"deciding to sell his
kidney on
bolee.com
is a pointer towards the thriving
trade.
An advertisement on
'Pakistan’s First Auction Site’ reads, "Kidney for Sale: I am a
26-year-old healthy person and want to sell one of my kidneys for AB+ compatible
person. My demand is Rs 600,000 (operation and other medical expenses will be
borne by kidney
purchaser)."
The donor, who is
supposedly based in Islamabad, has a month and 21 days left to get an
auctioneer. There have been no bids
yet.
According to a recent
research, Pakistan has now emerged as one of the largest centres for commerce
and tourism in renal transplantation. Of the 239 kidney vendors contacted by the
researchers, 69% were bonded labourers, 12% labourers, 8.5% housewives and 11%
unemployed.
Their mean age was
around 35 years. Though kidneys are sold for about $1,500, post-operation the
donors hardly ever
benefit.
"Transplants are a
lucrative business for Pakistani doctors, hospital staff and 'fixers’ who
exploit the gullible and the needy,"Anwar Naqvi, a senior surgeon
said.