KARACHI, Oct 14: Human organ trade is alive and well in Pakistan, including Karachi, according to Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation.

Talking to a group of journalists on Thursday, he said he regularly received calls from potential organ recipients, requesting him to arrange organs, especially kidneys, for them.

"I frequently get calls from people, coming mostly to Karachi from the Middle East, asking me if we deal in kidneys," said Prof Rizvi. "The calls are mostly made from the posh hotels where such people stay."

When asked why the SIUT had not initiated a protest campaign against the people who dealt in human organs, the SIUT's director said: "Oh, in a way we have. "We don't encourage the healthcare centres where dubious transplantations are carried out as we don't invite these people to our events. And whenever an opportunity arises, we speak out against organ trade."

Giving the example of India, Prof Rizvi said organ trade could be crushed through adequate implementation of properly-formulated laws, which allowed transplantation of cadaver organs, on one hand, and disallowed the sale and purchase of the same, on the other.

"As we all know, not long ago this trade was thriving in India. The Indians not only banned the sale and purchase of organs but also put some doctors behind bars." At the same time, they passed the brain death and cadaver organ laws, which made the trade less lucrative.

Answering a question, Prof Rizvi said that as a consequence of the initiative against the trade, all the Indians who dealt in organs had gone underground. "A similar initiative can be undertaken in Pakistan, provided altruism is inculcated as well."

Meanwhile, the growing organ trade in Pakistan has attracted attention in the media. According to the CNN - which ran a detailed report titled 'Pakistan's lucrative kidney trade' on Aug 4 - the country is "fast becoming a centre for the organ trade for foreigners and wealthy Pakistani in search of a transplant".

The channel claimed that thousands of live kidneys were sold each year in the country. Many hospitals even advertise on the Internet, offering a transplant to anyone who could pay up.

"One such procedure had a price tag of $14,000," according to the CNN item which is still available on the Internet. The Star TV network also ran an news report not long ago which characterized Pakistan as "one of the top three destinations in Asia for patients looking to have a kidney transplant". According to this report, more than a dozen hospitals across the country deal in organs.

The World Net Daily describes how Thor Andersen, a 33-year-old Briton, bought a kidney for just over $40,000 from Sumaira, an impoverished Pakistani villager. All these electronic media reports claimed that the absence of laws which prohibited sale and purchase of human organs allowed the objectionable trade to flourish.