Definition Essay on organ trafficking PDF

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Organ Trafficking Around the World

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Organ Trafficking Around the World

Alejandra Avila Grand Canyon University ENG-106: English Composition II Dr. Richard F. Gaspar 11/24/2021

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Organ trafficking has been around for some years now and its an issue that till this day is still going on. President Reagan signed the National Organ Transplant Act thirty-seven years ago. This Act was passed to improve the shortage that was being cause with the organ donation and thereby creating a better organ matching process (Humphreys, 2018). The sale and purchase of organs was prohibited in the United States when the Nation Organ Transplant Act came in place back in 1984 (Johnson, 2020). The United Network for Organ Sharing monitors the donating and organ transplant system to make sure that it runs as fair as possible. Human trafficking has made it difficult for people to obtain much needed transplants, and to be able to obtain a kidney in the United States it could be from three to five years. In Germany it’s longer up to six years even though their system is very similar (Human Trafficking, 2021). Other countries do not have monitoring systems creating a vacuum that leaves the organ search to criminal networks, who obtain an organ at a high price for the recipient and even a higher price for the donor (Human Trafficking, 2021). For the following reasons that will be addressed in this paper, organ trafficking is illegal in the United States and the majority of other countries; it could increase human trafficking, benefit the wealthy, and lead to a host of negative medical consequences

While typically human trafficking is thought of in the sense of sex work and illegal labor, there is a burgeoning trade in illegal organs harvested through trafficking, with estimates at 10% of all transplanted organs. In 2018, 40 million people were trafficked globally, with 90% being victims of sex trafficking, and the remaining 10% split amongst other forms, including organ removal (Gonzalez, 2020). Transplant tourism, where the unwilling donor is also a victim of either sex trafficking or illegal labor, is a multilevel system that is estimated to generate between 840 million to 1.7 billion dollars annually on a global scale (Gonzalez, 2020). This trade can be

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segmented into 3 categories: where organs are taken by coercion or deceit; the donor agrees to give up the organ but is not paid or is paid at a reduced rate; and where vulnerable persons are treated for an ailment, either real or fictitious, and the organ or organs are removed without their knowledge or consent (Johnson, 2020). Black-market organ traders have been known to pose as reputable representatives of ethical organ transplant organizations, leaving the recipient unaware of the nature of the organ being transplanted into their body (Johnson, 2020). This practice is especially dangerous as once obtained, the illicit organs can be transplanted in reputable hospitals with nobody the wiser (Bain, 2018). The severity of organ trafficking is best expressed by the World Health Organization’s estimate of one black market kidney being traded hourly at a rate of roughly 10 thousand annually (Human Trafficking, 2021).

Due to the length of time, it can take to find a suitable match for an ethically sourced organ transplant, the wealthy benefit the most from organ trafficking. The very nature of human trafficking, and by extension organ trafficking, targets the marginalized and under privileged by default (Gonzalez, 2020). This is most evident when analyzing the demographic of donors, both voluntary and coerced. Migrants and refugees are amongst those targeted the most heavily due to poor socioeconomic standing in their home countries leading to less-than-ideal circumstances both enroute and once upon arrival in their new host country (Gonzalez, 2020). This group is placed in more vulnerable situations due to being potentially exposed to smugglers who prey on them during travel as well as feeling desperate and left with no means other the sale of their organs to survive (Gonzalez, 2020). Additionally, peopled indebted in poor and developing countries feel they have no other option than to sell their organs on the black market (Gonzalez, 2020). These organs are then sold at a massive markup to whoever can afford it, with one case

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where a Syrian refugee sold his kidney for $8000 to help support his mother and five sisters whereas the going rate is $62,000 to purchase a set of kidneys (Gonzalez, 2020). The going rates for other illegally harvested organs range anywhere from $30,000 for a cornea, to $150,000 for a pair of lungs, making this black-market trade out of reach for the average person (Bain, 2018). On top of all of this, the wealthy are better equipped to deal with any potentially negative side effects of black-market organ transplants.

An unintended but still very real side effect of illegal organ trafficking, is the potentially harmful medical impact on both the donor and recipient of black-market organs (Cusack, 2020). As many donors reside in poor and developing nations, the organs are not obtained in the stateof-the-art medical facilities where an ethically sourced organ donation would take place. In addition, the substandard screening and pretreatment lead to the viability of many trafficked organs being compromised (Efrat, 2019). Aside from the lack of oversight on the transplant organs themselves, the donors typically do not receive sufficient care immediately following the organ removal nor are they in a position to seek the necessary aftercare for the kind of major surgery involved in the harvesting of the organ (Efrat, 2019). Many recipients chose to undergo the transplant in the source country to cut costs and avoid drawing attention from the authorities. A recent meta-analysis of 39 publications found a correlation between those obtaining organs abroad and the contraction of transmissible diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B as well as a lower rate of survival (Samadi, 2014). The unregulated nature of black-market organs leads to potential complications for those receiving the organs, which is particularly hazardous in those cases where the transplant recipient is under the impression that their organ was obtained through a reputable source. Such organ recipients may be implanted with a transplant that was not screened

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properly for compatibility or is ill or damaged. Even those aware of an organ’s illegal status are not exempt from the need to take expensive antirejection medication or immunosuppressive drugs and can become infected or end up losing the organ that was illegally harvested, leaving them potentially worse off than they were before (Cusack, 2020).

In summary, organ trafficking has an illegal status in the United States and much of the rest of the world due to its unregulated nature and harmful nature. Its exploitative of the poor and marginalized with the vast majority of the benefactors being the wealthy. It contributes to human trafficking, as well as increasing the profitability for those who engage in the black-market sale of humans. It has many unintended negative medical consequences that can lead to debilitating lifelong conditions or even death for both those donating and those receiving trafficked organs. Protections like the National Organ Transplant Act and the ethical oversight committees found in the United States and Germany exist not only to protect the donors from exploitation and harm, but also to protect the recipients from disease or mismatched organs that can cause life threatening rejections. Despite the legal and ethical avenues taking longer to find a match, the transplants are more successful and ensure that in the case of a live transplant, the donor is a willing participant who receives the medical care they need. More could be done to curtail blackmarket organ harvesting, such as implementing regulated and standardized methods of organ procurement in developing nations, raising awareness among both physicians and the public, and enforcing legislation for transplantation.

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References Bain, C., Mari, J., & Delmonico, A. D. F. L. (2018, July 31). Organ trafficking: The unseen form of human trafficking. ACAMS Today. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.acamstoday.org/organ-trafficking-the-unseen-formof-human-trafficking/. Cusack, J. (2020, July 13). Why illegal trafficking in organs is growing fast..but few are talking about it..by Steve Farrer. Financial Crime News. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://thefinancialcrimenews.com/why-illegal-trafficking-in-organsis-growing-fastbut-few-are-talking-about-itby-steve-farrer/. Efrat, A. (2019, April 18). Analysis | Organ Traffickers Lock up people to harvest their kidneys. here are the politics behind the organ trade. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/12/07/organtraffickers-lock-up-people-to-harvest-their-kidneys-here-are-the-politics-behindthe-organ-trade/. Gonzalez, J., Garijo, I., & Sanchez, A. (2020, May 5). Organ trafficking and migration: A bibliometric analysis of an untold story. International journal of environmental research and public health. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246946/. Human Trafficking Search. (2021, May 21). Organ trafficking around the world. Human Trafficking Search. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from

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https://humantraffickingsearch.org/organ-trafficking-around-theHumphreys, K. (2019, April 26). An organ shortage kills 30 Americans every day. is it time to pay donors? The Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/20/an-organ-shortagekills-30-americans-every-day-is-it-time-to-pay-donors/. Johnson, C. (2020, August 12). Organ trafficking: More than just a myth. S.J. Quinney College of Law. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://law.utah.edu/organtrafficking-more-than-just-a-myth/ Samadi, D. (2014, November 12). Consequences of the rise in illegal organ trafficking. Fox News. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.foxnews.com/health/consequences-of-the-rise-in-illegal-organtrafficking.

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