DOH protects organ donors
Health Undersecretary Jade del Mundo said the administrative order was designed to ensure the protection of organ donors against abuses and exploitation.
“A foreign patient who undergoes organ transplant in the
The measure is expected to ease the backlog among poor patients who need to get a new organ, particularly kidneys.
The DOH had initiated a review of the policies on organ donation following reports that the procedure, particularly the kidney transplantation, has already been commercialized.
It is believed that kidney transplantation has been penetrated by syndicates who recruit donors in exchange for fees, ranging from P100,000 to P300,000. But most of the time, the donors are reportedly paid less than what they were promised.
Del Mundo said that to protect the donors from abuses and exploitation, the insurance will have to cover protection package for them in terms of livelihood and health and compensation for lost productivity.
The new order, however, will not change an existing policy that hospitals can earmark only 10 percent of all transplant procedures for foreign patients.
There were proposals to increase the limit but this was opposed by various groups like the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), a group of doctors and other health professionals, for fear that it would bump off poor Filipino patients.
Del Mundo added that the order also mandates the creation of a national registry for both the patients and the donors to ensure that the procedure is regulated.
He also said that a network would have to be created to monitor the implementation of this administrative order.
“There is also a need for implementing rules and regulations (IRR) so the order will not be immediately implemented. We still have to formulate the guidelines,” he said.
The IRR, according to Del Mundo, will have to include penalties for violating doctors and hospital officials.
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