BioEdge comments, June 9th on an earlier New York Times report about a new illegal trade in body parts in Europe resulting from the economic crisis. see also Bio Edge report.
The financial crisis in Europe has sparked an increase in
the trade of human body parts, as families and individuals scramble to put food
on the table. Experts say that the black market for human organs -- traditionally
based in India, China, Brazil and the Philippines -- is spreading to crisis-hit
Western countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and poor Balkan nations like
Serbia. Vulnerable and impoverished people are trying to sell their kidneys,
bone marrow, lungs or corneas, spurred on by the internet, amoral organ
traffickers and a global shortfall of organs for transplantation.
A 46-year-old businessman from Piraeus, Greece, said
recently that the only way to rescue his family from ending up on the street
was to sell one of his kidneys for €100,000, or US$123,000. He told Greek media
that he even hired a private investigator to track down a buyer.
The trade has expanded to the US where, according to
experts, there have been many recent cases of poor undocumented immigrants
selling their kidneys via websites such as Craigslist to get by.
“Thanks to the global financial crisis organ trafficking is
a growth industry,” said Jonathan Ratel, a European Union prosecutor.
“Organized criminal groups are preying upon the vulnerable on both sides of the
supply chain, people suffering from chronic poverty, and desperate and wealthy
patients who will do anything to survive,” he said.
While accurate statistics are hard to find, 15,000 to 20,000
kidneys are sold illegally each year, according to Organ Watch, a human rights
group in Berkeley, California, that tracks the illegal trade in organs. The UN
estimates that 5% to 10% of kidney transplants performed annually result from
organ trafficking. Mr Ratel, the prosecutor, said organ tourists mainly come
from the US, Britain, France, Israel, Italy and Germany. Often, donors never
see a penny, he added
BioEdge comments, June 9th on an earlier New York Times report about a new illegal trade in body parts in Europe resulting from the economic crisis. see also Bio Edge report. 
