By Staff Reporter — MUSCAT: May 3 - Two foreigners were arrested by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for buying kidneys from an illegal clinic in the city of Lahore, the local media said. As per reports, the two were Omani citizens. Four more have been arrested in this connection. Pakistan’s GEO News said FIA had raided the clinic being run for organ transplant in a private housing society of Lahore. During the raid, four people were arrested and sent on remand. The accused belonged to a group involved in illegal organ transplant. The doctors used to take out kidneys of local donors and sell them to foreigners for roughly RO 500. The Observer had reported last year that 1,500 Omani youth, suffering from End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD), are awaiting kidney transplantation in the Sultanate and there aren’t many organ donors in the country.
It was also reported that in the absence of local donors, most Omani families fall back on unscrupulous organ traders who procure organs in the black market, which is illegal. “We advise families not to pay to procure a kidney in the black market. It is illegal to trade in organs and is against the pillars of Islam. They can be punished if caught trading in kidneys. But the families in search of a kidney to save their beloved ones don’t heed our words,” said Dr Issa Salim al Salmi, a senior consultant (medicine-nephrology), Royal Hospital.
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