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Church delegates to be on panel to monitor organ transplants
Health authorities have invited the Church to be on a committee that will screen human organ transplants in a bid to stop the illegal sale of kidney.
- By Cher Jimenez, Correspondent
- Published: 00:30 May 2, 2008
Manila: Health authorities have invited the Church to be on a committee that will screen human organ transplants in a bid to stop the illegal sale of kidney.
Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla said the Department of Health has sent an invitation to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to be part of the Philippine Network for Organ Donation and Transplantation (PhilNetDat) which will screen organ transplants in 24 accredited facilities nationwide.
"We have sent our formal invitations to them for them to be part of the committee that will help solve the problem of transplants," said Padilla in an interview.
The board earlier approved a ban on kidney transplants for foreign patients except when their donors are related to them by consanguinity.
Bishop Jose Oliveros, head of the CBCP's office on bioethics, said he and Sister Rosanne Malillin of the church's social action arm, were to sit as the clergy's representative to PhilNetDat.
"As of now, we have yet to receive a formal invitation to take part as member," Oliveros told church-run Radio Veritas.
The prelates are against the illegal sale of kidney mostly by poor Filipinos who become victims of brokers looking for donors.
Done on the sly, transplant's donors are promised payment of about 50,000 pesos (Dh4,545) while a broker gets between 100,000-150,000 pesos per client.
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