Desperate Afghans resort to selling their kidneys to feed families

France24 ^ | Feb 28, 2022

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) – Jobless, debt ridden, and struggling to feed his children, Nooruddin felt he had no choice but to sell a kidney -- one of a growing number of Afghans willing to sacrifice an organ to save their families.

The practice has become so widespread in the western city of Herat that a nearby settlement is bleakly nicknamed "one kidney village".

"I had to do it for the sake of my children," Nooruddin told AFP in the city, close to the border with Iran.

"I didn't have any other option."

Afghanistan has been plunged into financial crisis following the Taliban takeover six months ago, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation after decades of war.

Noorudin was among eight people AFP spoke to who had sold a kidney to feed their families or pay off debt -- some for as little as $1,500.

It is illegal to sell or buy organs in most developed nations, where donors are usually related to the recipient or are people acting out of altruism.

In Afghanistan, however, the practice is unregulated.

"There is no law... to control how the organs can be donated or sold, but the consent of the donor is necessary," said Professor Mohammad Wakil Matin, a former top surgeon at a hospital in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

[ronniesgal]

at least they did not sell their childrens kidneys.

[dfwgator]

They had 20 years to figure it out. Sorry.

[riverrunner]

I think there should be a free market in organs.

They only people making money on them now is the. Medical profession.

[billorites]

The Uyghurs will undercut you every time.

[whistleduck]

Bingo. Cave dwellers were provided many opportunities. NO guilt on the part of the west.

[ronniesgal]

i agree actually. why i can’t sell a kidney but i can sell my eggs does not make any sense.
Nor is it anybody’s beeswax.