News | 2 Aug 2018
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Aussies are taking a big risk in their desperation to survive, with higher than expected numbers going overseas for transplants.

Desperate Australians may be going overseas for illegal organ transplants in greater numbers than first thought. Official statistics show just a handful of people each year go overseas for a kidney transplant but a new survey indicates the real numbers may be a lot higher. To get a more accurate picture, Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) president-elect Toby Coates surveyed members of the transplant community to see how many had dealt with patients who had overseas transplants...

Media Release
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Global eyecare community to unveil new ethical agreement for use of eye tissue

Barcelona Thursday 14th June 2018: Members of the global eyecare and eye bank community unveiled the world’s first global Agreement on the use of donated human tissue for ocular transplantation, research, and future technologies, named the Barcelona Principles: An Agreement on the use of human donated tissue for ocular transplantation, research and future technologies.

Read the Barcelona Agreement [here]

International Policy Headlines | 08 June 2018
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What should countries in the Global South do about Global Kidney Exchange (GKE) programs?

Critics of GKE programs argue that it would offer financial and symbolic incentives that have the potential of promoting organ trafficking, that it wrongly assumes that low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) do not offer organ transplantation to those who need it, and would add barriers to the efforts that LMICs countries are already doing to improve their responses to end-stage renal failure and organ trafficking...

China Daily | 26 May 2018
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By China Daily

China to share organ transplant expertise

Huang Jiefu, chairman of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and also a former vice-minister of health, was speaking at a side event, entitled "Towards Universal Access to Solid Organ Transplantation", during the 71st World Health Assembly, which is running from May 21-26...

Epoch Times | 23 May 2018
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By Omid Ghoreishi

Senate Committee Hears from Experts on Human Organ Trafficking

Senators in the upper house’s human rights standing committee heard on May 23 about why Canada should have its own legislation to combat organ trafficking. Bill aims to make it a criminal offence for Canadians to procure an organ abroad that was taken by force...

Epoch Times | 17 May 2018
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By Janita Kan

NSW Takes Crucial Step In Fight Against Human Organ Trafficking, Targets Crimes Overseas

Organ trafficking is a serious criminal offence in Australia but currently, state and commonwealth laws only prevent a person who is in Australia from engaging in an illegal trade of human organs. Loopholes in the legislation mean that if an Australia receives an organ in an illegal or unethical manner while overseas, they face no penalty when they return home.

Scroll.in | 09 May 2018
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By Sanjay Nagral

Who gives, who lives? India’s organ transplant system continues to favour the rich

In some parts of India donations are increasingly saving lives. Organs are being transplanted across gender, caste and religious identities. But more than 95% of organ transplants are currently performed in the private sector where costs range from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Given the divisive times we are going through in this country, shouldn’t we be celebrating such acts of solidarity and kinship?

Korea Biomedical Review | 05 May 2018
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By Marian Chu

‘South Korea indirectly fuels organ trafficking in China’

South Koreans were one of the largest consumer groups of organ transplants in China, indirectly contributing to the unethical organ harvesting market there, speakers at a seminar said.

The data on organ transplants were presented at the “Vital Link seminar,” hosted by the Korean Society for Transplantation, Vital Link, Korea Organ Donation Network, and the Korea Organ Donation Agency, at Seoul National University Hospital on Thursday...

Balkan Transitional Justice | 02 May 2018
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By Dean B. Pineles

Kosovo’s Medicus Case: Bad Omen for Rule of Law

Six years of efforts to deliver justice were wasted when the defendants convicted in the Medicus organ-trafficking case were inexplicably sent for retrial, says a judge who served on the original trial panel.

Inter Press Service | 30 April 2018
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By Maged Srour

Human Trafficking for Organs: Ending abuse of the Poorest

Organ transplantation is one of the most incredible medical achievements of the past century. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “human organs for transplants have two sources, deceased donors and living donors; ultimately, human organs can only be derived from a human body, and thus any action in the field of organ transplantation must be carried out in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards”. The reality is that in several countries such as India, Pakistan, Egypt or Mexico, organ trafficking has been peaking in recent years...