DOH chief wants government policy on organ donation reviewed

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Enrique Ona wants a review of the ban on the transplant of organs from “Filipino living non-related donors” to foreigners.

In an interview recently, Ona said the program should be evaluated to determine its impact on the health sector and how it has progressed.

“We’ll get an observation on how the ban (has affected organ donation),” he added.

Ona is a transplant surgeon. He was the chief of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute before his appointment to head the Department of Health (DOH).

He has been the president of the Transplant Society of the Philippines since 1989.

He declined to comment on the ban on foreigners’ getting organ transplants from living Filipinos who are not blood relatives.

The ban is contained in Administrative Order No. 2008-0004-A issued by the DOH in 2008.

The DOH issued the AO to stop the commercialization of organ donation and transplant, particularly of kidneys, in the country.

Under the AO, foreign patients are not allowed to receive organs from living Filipino donors who are not related to them by blood.

The DOH is instead promoting “cadaveric” donation or harvesting of organs from deceased individuals.

The policy is in compliance with Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Human Trafficking Act, the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism and the World Health Organization’s Guiding Principles on Organ Transplantation.

The AO states that “kidney transplantation is not part of medical tourism.”

The AO also stipulates that the government should earmark P20 million annually “in support of the operations of the organ donation and transplantation program starting 2010.”

“Funds may be augmented from government and private sources to support the program,” the AO read.