Saturday, January 22, 2011

Organ Trade: Philippines government considering easing organ trade ban

In impoverished communities in the Philippines, many are involved in an illegal million-dollar industry - selling their own organs on the black market.

Most of these organs are sold to foreigners, which prompted the government to ban transplants on anyone other than Filipinos in 2008. But implementation of the law has been lax.

Now the government is considering lifting the ban, as a shortage of kidneys in the country is forcing a re-think of the ban for non-relatives.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from the town of Lopez.