Kidney Transplants and Scams: India’s Troublesome Legacy

By: Ramesh Kumar

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Synopsis: A live kidney weighing 150-200gms is the most sought-after organ worldwide, with people willing to buy from unrelated live donors for a few lakh rupees. There are almost 2000 kidney transplants happening in India yearly – less than half this number meet the country’s legal requirements. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Sudarshan Agarwal are the two people who helped the enactment of an organ transplant law in India. India imports dialysis machines and its first made-in India machine has just gone on clinical trial though nephrological services began here some 50 years ago. Harvesting of kidneys from unfortunate accident victims is the only solution to the shortage of kidneys for transplantation in India – with 150,000 accidents every year on the country’s deadly roads. To make kidneys available readily and legally from accident victims and the brain dead, the law needs amendment and a National Organ Harvesting Programme (NOHP) is urgently needed. In this book, Dr Ramesh Kumar reveals the stark reality of kidney scams in India and strongly advocates the need of a National Organ Harvesting Programme (NOHP).