Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gonzalez hits commercialization of organs (11:21 a.m.)
MANILA -- Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez assailed the "commercialization" of kidney or organs for sale, but found nothing wrong with giving reward to the organ donors.
Himself a recipient when he underwent a kidney transplant in August last year, Gonzalez said the justice department is mulling to criminalize the sale of body organs by middlemen.
"Selling (body organs) are not wrong per se; it's the ethical aspect of that that is wrong. If you are giving it for the purpose of selling, you make it as if it's a commodity," Gonzalez said.
He said that donating one's body part should not be construed as a criminal act, but only the act of selling it for financial gain.
"If you are selling, for example your kidney, for the purpose of helping a relative or close friend, there is nothing wrong with that. Donation is okay, it's the commercialization that is wrong," he said.
The Department of Health (DOH) is calling for the passage of a law criminalizing organ trafficking by unscrupulous traders who serve as middlemen by finding donors for their rich clientele who are in need of specific organs.
The justice secretary, however, said the DOH has yet to coordinate with his office on such matters.
He said he is mulling to adopt the policy in the United States wherein organ retrieval from a dead body is allowed in the country by virtue of RA 7170 or the Organ Donation Act of 1991.
Gonzalez on September 14 went under the knife for a kidney transplant. His donor was his own personal driver Felicito Gunay. (ECV/Sunnex) |
