HUMAN ORGAN TRAFFICKING AND TRANSPLANTATION: A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF CAUSES, CHALLENGES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING LAWS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Organ transplant save many lives every year throughout the world. But at the same time lives of donors are in danger because of illegal organ trade which is common in third world countries. People from all over the world especially from developed countries including Europe, Australia, and United States come to developing countries including Pakistan, India, and other developing countries every year. They used to hunt poor donors who are all set to sell off their healthy organs in return of money. Recent repot of World Health Organization (WHO) says that annually almost ten percent kidney transplants of the overall kidney transplants that happen in the world involve donors from the above mentioned developing countries. Current research is based on laws which can overcome this alarming situation and also highlights the issues regarding implementation of existing laws and policies. Transplant of Human Organ and Tissue Act 2010 is a relevant law which provides removal, storage and transplantation for therapeutic purposes. This research is of qualitative and exploratory nature. It is such as to find out the most relevant information for the topic and made evaluation using tools to take out research through articles, books, case studies and online materials. This research critically evaluates the laws which are related to organ trade in Pakistan. Primary source of research is relevant laws and their critical evaluation and secondary source of this research is journals and articles of relevant topic. This research concludes that Organ trafficking is one of the most common illegal activities in the world and particularly in Pakistan. In the last few decades, there have been a number of transnational issues. The most highlighted causes are poverty, exploitation of minors, and lack of viable organs. However, the root cause for the current scenario is the lack of proper legislation regarding illegal organ trade and the implementation of existing laws. The government and other public/private organizations shall observe the relationship between donors, donor health and organ trafficking in order to develop efficient policies against organ trafficking and transplantation tourism (Naziha Syed Ali, 2017). Keywords: Human Organ Trafficking; Legal Challenges; Transplant Tourism; THOTA Act