Organ donation

EditorialFebruary 14, 2019 Facebook Count

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IT is difficult to see the logic behind the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice allowing
the Council of Islamic Ideology two months to comment on The Transplantation of Human
Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill 2018 — which was passed thanks to the efforts of Senator
Mian Ateeq Shaikh — thereby delaying its passage. Under the bill, Nadra will ask citizens if they
wish to register as donors, and which organs they would like to donate, upon the creation of
their CNICs. Since 2010, progressive politicians have been trying to legislate on organ donation,
but there have been constant hurdles placed in their way. Prior to this, SIUT, Edhi Foundation
and concerned individuals have been lobbying for such legislation for years. And now, when the
bill has finally been vetted after a comprehensive debate, what is the point of further
postponement?

While local religious scholars are divided on the issue, the rgaOnisation of Islamic Cooperation
has approved organ transplantation, and many Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran
already practise it. But in Pakistan, the basic lack of awareness and poor access to legal
facilitation have led to the perpetuation of a thriving black market for organs — demanded by
those desperate to live, and supplied by desperate poverty. Additionally, there is a lack of data
on the topic. Instead of indulging in further deferments, the legislators should look into building
awareness campaigns and facilitating proper data registration programmes. The media can and
should be used to its full potential to promote the practice, particularly of cadaveric donation,
where organs are donated by the deceased. Prominent public figures, celebrities and politicians
should also openly support such initiatives, to ease some of the taboos and fears surrounding it.
It is an open secret that many of the organ donors in Pakistan are bonded labourers, desperate
to pay off their debts. There have been instances when police raids found donors locked up in
suffocating apartments, trapped by an obligation they unwittingly signed up to in exchange for a
few thousand rupees. With little to no rights, and in the absence of the law, such patients rarely
receive post-operative care, and some die from complications. Facilitating legal and ethical organ
donation will ease taboos, provide safety to donors, and save lives. At the end of the day, that is
the entire point of organ donation — to save lives.