Hospital kidney transplant licenses suspended for now

Department Of Health regional director Susan Madarieta said hospital licenses to conduct kidney transplant operations are suspended for now.

Madarieta said Health Secretary Francisco Duque issued the cease and desist order after the DOH discovered that hospitals in the country exceeded the 10 percent limit for foreign patient transplants.

He said there is a rule that Filipino transplant patients should be given priority.

The administrative order is aimed to totally stop the commercial selling of  kidneys and other organs for transplant.

Two weeks ago, a licensing and monitoring team from DOH Manila also inquired from three hospitals licensed to perform kidney transplants on the possibility of the budding business.

Madarieta said, they are still studying the legalities of the administrative order.

“I'm not sure of the legalities yet but ethically speaking, a person selling his kidney is not right,” she added.

Kidney or organ transplants should be sourced from a donor who is an immediate family or relative and the next source is from a donor who is dying.

The Philippine Board for Organ Donation and Transplantation, which have representatives from DOH hospitals and non-government organizations, was created to come up with the set of rules of regulations by the end of the year.

In the new administrative order, donors are prohibited to dictate where their organs will go.  The donated organ will form part of a national registry of donors which will accordingly match organ to a prioritized patient.

There are 23,000 Filipinos in the country who need kidneys and should be on top of the list of recipients of organ transplants in the country.

Kidneys are reportedly sold at P30,000 to P40,000. – Ferliza C. Contratista/BRP