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The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The transplantation of organs from a living or deceased person into another person is a relatively new area of medical practice but one that is rapidly accelerating as a result of advances in surgery, immunology and pharmacology. Deceased persons remain the source of many organ transplants and indeed are the only possible source for certain transplants, such as those involving hearts and lungs. It is, however, increasingly possible, and in some cases preferable, to use the organs of living persons for some transplant procedures. Kidneys, for example, can be transferred from a living person, often with better results for the recipient and, in theory at least, with little harm to the donor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Worldwide, there is an acute shortage of organs for transplantation, which effectively means that many people who would have benefited from such treatment will die. The mismatch between the growing demand for organ transplants and the strict limits on available supply is the root cause of many of the legal, ethical and human rights issues that arise around organ transplantation. For example, there is great debate around consent for deceased organ "donation" and even around the definition of death. In relation to both deceased and live transplantation, a key issue is the question of commercialization. The dominant view is that organs for transplantation should be a gift, generated by an act of altruism that is not distorted by incentives or payments. A money-driven market in organs is seen to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, opening the door to greater exploitation of both the seller and the buyer. Others argue, however, that this system will never begin to satisfy the demand for transplants, that it produces wasteful inefficiencies and that it contributes to the growth of exploitative and uncontrolled shadow markets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations has also been active in debates and setting standards regarding trafficking in persons for the removal of organs, most particularly through the World Health Organization (WHO), which has issued a series of resolutions and guidelines on the subject, the most recent being the WHO guiding principles on human cell, tissue and organ transplantation, endorsed in 2010 by the sixty-third World Health Assembly in its resolution 63.22. Among other things, they stipulate that the human body and its parts are not to be the subject of commercial transactions and, in guiding principle 5, that "purchasing, or offering to purchase, cells, tissues or organs for transplantation, or their sale by living persons or by the next of kin for deceased persons, should be banned".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Prohibition of commercialism (buying, selling and financial gain). The international and regional standards mentioned above, which unanimously advocate prohibition of the buying and selling of human organs, have been incorporated by most countries into national law. The Islamic Republic of Iran runs a system of regulated, paid living and deceased organ donation that provides the notable exception. In countries that prohibit the sale of organs, donors may nevertheless receive limited compensation, which is not considered payment. Some countries, such as the United States, reimburse some expenses and give grants for programmes to increase donations and effective transplant process. Other countries, including Israel and Singapore, have gone much further in incentivizing donation, for example by according priority for transplantation to persons on the national donor registry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- National legal frameworks governing organ transplantation can be extremely complex, addressing a wide range of matters, many of which affect, directly or indirectly, trafficking in persons for the removal of organs. The main issues are briefly described below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Available information on trafficking in persons for the removal of organs is incomplete and often unverified. Scholarly research in this area is not yet well developed and anecdotal reports from civil society organizations and the media remain the primary source of information. Part of the problem lies in the clandestine nature of the trafficking. Even more so than other forms of trafficking in persons, those involved in trafficking in persons for the removal of organs (including victims) have very little incentive to come forward to researchers and criminal justice authorities with information and evidence. Victims are also unlikely to be identified through the multitude of channels that are now used to identify other victims of trafficking such as those subject to forced labour or sexual exploitation. Health-care providers who end up treating persons who have obtained organs abroad may be inhibited from sharing information with the authorities owing to concerns over patient privacy, their own obligations of confidentiality, uncertainty as to whether any laws have been breached or, indeed, their own complicity in the arrangement. Furthermore, definitional problems and confusion contribute to poor reporting and analysis and render comparisons between countries and between transplantation practices extremely difficult.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- While persons travelling abroad to receive purchased organs come from many countries and from all regions of the world, "a heavier reliance on overseas transplantation and transplant tourism is believed to exist in Asia and the Middle East than in other regions". Recently, some countries have been identified as organ-importing, or "demand", countries in which criminal prosecutions for trafficking in persons for the removal of organs have been initiated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Some 100 illegal kidney transplants were allegedly performed at a hospital in an African country from 2001 to 2003; most of the recipients came from the Middle East. The organs were sourced from persons from Eastern Europe and South America. Investigations revealed the existence of an international organ trafficking syndicate and brought into public view a long-standing and flourishing transplant tourism business.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The issue of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs 2013, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In 2000, the flow of organs was believed to follow the modern route of capital: from the South to the North, from the Third World to the First World, from poor to rich, from black and brown to white, and from female to male. Data reviewed by the Special Rapporteur generally confirmed the key points of this assertion, except in relation to the gender aspect. The trade in organs sharply reflects economic and social divisions within and, most particularly, between countries. Recipients are generally independently wealthy or supported by their Governments or private insurance companies. Victims are inevitably poor, often unemployed and with low levels of education, rendering them vulnerable to deception about the nature of the transaction and its potential impacts. Available information indicates that, while trafficking in persons for the removal of organs can occur within a single country, it may involve legitimate regional cooperation or, most commonly, potential recipients travelling to another country for a transplantation that would be unlawful or otherwise unavailable at home (known as "transplant tourism"). Intermediaries, including brokers and health-care providers, arrange the recipients' travel and recruit "donors".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
9 shown of 9 entities