Federal Cabinet has approved 'cadaver transplantation system' in the newly promulgated law. Under this system a person could donate his organ in his life which would be removed after his death for the patient.
The cadaver system is being carried out already in some foreign countries. However Punjab Health authorities are still in dark about the newly promulgated law against the illegal organ trade.
Sources in the health department disclosed that their department had no knowledge about the law approved by the cabinet. While, the federal health officials are tight-lipped to disclose the contents of the law under the pretext that the case is in Supreme Court.
The commercial transplantation of kidneys from unrelated donors has been banned in the new law, he said and added that the decision to this effect was taken after the reports of illegal kidney trade growing very rapidly in the country. Though some senior doctors in Lahore have expressed their concern over such method of organ transplantation however, the ministry of health ignored their protest.
He further said that the cabinet has also allowed the close relatives of the patients who could donate their kidneys. The close relatives are those who have blood-relations with the patients including father, brother, uncle and son of a patient.
The human organ trade remained hot issue in the country specially when the capital city police arrested some senior doctors of leading private hospitals in Lahore. They were booked and sent behind the bars by the police while several others went under ground to avoid police's raids. The federal health ministry was criticised strongly for not making law on human organ transplantation, which resulted in uncertainty among the doctors' community as well as the health department officials.
The cabinet has to face tremendous pressure, which took ultimate result and promulgated law to stop illegal trade of the human organs. It is learnt reliably that the Health Department Punjab has asked all the District Co-ordination Officers (DCOs), Executive District Officers (EDOs) Health and the heads of some teaching hospitals to take immediate steps to stop illegal trade of the human organs.
The health department received instructions from the Advocate General Punjab who directed the department high-ups to ensure implementation on the apex court's decision regarding illegal trade of the organ transplantation.