Human body partsTrafficing - Research Paper Example

number and the varieties of transplantation options available is the emergent market for human body parts (Harrison, pg21).Legally, body parts used in transplantation surgeries are normally procured form cadavers or brain dead people, however, the demand for organs has far exceeded the availability of organs which leaves thousands of patients in the waiting list. In the U.S alone, 95,000 people were in the waiting list in 2006, while 6,500 people died owing to non-availability of vital organs for transplantation ( Abouna, p34).

82,000 patients of the people in the waiting list were comprised of people waiting for kidneys alone (Rupert, p67). According to the WHO, in 2010 there were approximately 107,000 donated organs worldwide— both legal and illegal and a good percentage of these transplanted organs comprises of 20,000 kidneys which are trafficked (Heymann, 2012). These problems of demands, non-availability and inadequate management of transplantation organs have led to black marketing and trafficking of organs especially in the developing and the underdeveloped countries.

The monetary value added to human body parts and vital organs led to their commoditization. People from developing and under developed countries engage in the trade of human body parts because of their financial conditions and the high pay that this kind of trafficking fetches for them.  “The most common source of organs was impoverished people in India, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines, deceased organ donors in Colombia, and executed prisoners in China” ( Danovitch, p1306).. One of the major countries from where organs are procured is India, an Asian country.

Hundreds of impoverished people in India either sell or help traffic organs to make a living. Often doctors and nursing homes are involved in such scandals owing to the high price that organs such as kidneys and liver fetch especially from foreigners who are a part of “transplant tourism”. “The Voluntary Health