Kidney Donors

Twenty-five-year-old Pakistani Iqbal Zafar (3R) and three other villagers show their scars after they each sold a kidney to pay off debts. As the illegal kidney trade becomes rampant in Pakistan, the country's legal experts are making final touches on a draft law that would curb the "dirty business," said a senior official on January 29, 2006. The money earned by the poor donors is used for a variety of purposes, including marriages, house building, loan repayments, drug abuse, or simply to have a good time. Many Pakistani hospitals, which provide transplant facilities, have hundreds of donors listed with them, offering a transplant to anyone who can pay $5,000 to $6,000. --- 11 Aug 2004, Sultan Pur, Pakistan ---