Organ trafficking, and how to reduce it -- Frederike Ambagtsheer in Conversation

Frederike Ambagtsheer, who studies illegal markets for organs and transplants,  has some sensible thoughts on how to combat organ trafficking, not least by increasing the availability of legal, ethical transplantation conducted in high quality hospitals.

Here she is in The Conversation:

Illegal organ trade is more sophisticated than one might think - who’s behind it and how it could be controlled  by Frederike Ambagtsheer

"The organ trade involves a variety of practices which range from excessive exploitation (trafficking) to voluntary, mutually agreed benefits (trade).

"These varieties warrant different, data-driven responses.

"For example, organ sellers are reluctant to report abuses because organ sales are criminalised and sellers will be held liable. Although many can be considered human trafficking victims and be offered protection, this rarely occurs. Law- and policymakers should therefore consider decriminalising organ sales (removing penalties in the law) and offer organ sellers protection, regardless of whether they agree to provide evidence that helps to dismantle criminal networks.

"Countries should also allow medical professionals to safely and anonymously report dubious transplant activity. This information can support the police and judiciary to investigate, disrupt and prosecute those who facilitate illegal organ transplants. Portugal and the UK already have successful organ trafficking reporting mechanisms in place.

"Finally, a contested example of a possible solution to reduce organ scarcity and avoid black market abuses is to allow payments or other types of rewards for deceased and living organ donation to increase organ donation rates. To test the efficacy and morality of these schemes, strictly controlled experiments would be needed.

...

" In short, rather than exclusively focusing on stricter laws, a broader range of responses is needed that both address the root causes of the problem and that help to disrupt organ trading networks."

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Here are all my posts that mention Dr. Ambagtsheer's work, which I've followed for more than a decade.