A Message of Concern

from the Philippine College of Physicians

and the

Philippine Society of Nephrology

For those who have organs which have totally failed, like those with permanent kidney failure, organ transplantation has emerged as a unique field of medicine where the treatment does not come from anything that man can manufacture but only from one person’s sacrifice of literally giving a part of himself so that another’s life can be prolonged.

Transplantation at its best can be an instrument of the highest expression of brotherly love.  But instruments can fall into the wrong hands.  The practice of transplantation has been tarnished by people who have turned it into a dirty international business where huge amounts of money are made from the exploitation of two sets of people both with a desperate need –people desperate for a way out of their poverty who are enticed to sell a kidney and people so desperate for a kidney transplant they will risk getting into an illegal transaction with no guaranteed results.