Trading Organs for Money

Mihail is from the south-east European republic of Moldova, where both unemployment and poverty are rife. The 28-year-old father and farmer with the worn, brown face who could pass for almost 50, talks reluctantly about his experience of donating a kidney. When his friends first brought up the idea four years ago, he was hesitant, but as he realized that the situation in Moldova was not about to improve, he opted to go ahead.

Once the process was set in motion, there was no looking back. And before Mihail knew it, he had received identification papers from a contact he didn’t know, and was making the first big journey of his life. "A woman called Nina took me to Turkey, where I was housed in a hotel for two months. Then I was taken to the hospital for the operation," Mihail told Deutsche Welle Radio.

Mihail is one of countless eastern Europeans who have ended up in Turkey to sell one of their kidneys. But at least in his case he knew what he was doing. Many other unemployed people from the poorest countries on the continent are lured to Turkey on the promise of finding work, but end up instead on the operating table.

A high price for a small fee

Mihail received $3,000 for his kidney, which amounts to ten times more than his average annual income, but it is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands that patients pay to keep themselves alive. Mihail’s money came in good use for his family, but he has paid with his health, and he can no longer do the heavy physical work the farm requires without feeling pain.

Four years after his operation, Mihail has set out on his second journey abroad. This time he is going to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in order to draw attention to the flourishing illegal organ trade industry. He is accompanied by Swiss parliamentarian Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold.

A European concern

Vermot-Mangold traveled to Strasbourg to present a report on organ trafficking commissioned by the Council of Europe, which wants to see registers of donors introduced in all member states. Her research was based on time she spent in Moldova, where she spoke to young people who gave up their kidneys for money. In one case, she came across a young man who is now dependent on a dialysis machine because his remaining kidney was damaged during the illegal operation.

"It is a huge injustice that poor people in poor countries have to donate organs to rich people. And the most disgusting thing about it all as far as I’m concerned, is that it is used to make money."

Dealing with the problem

Many of those who travel to Turkey for a new organ are Israeli dialysis patients whose health insurance companies pay for the transport costs without asking any uncomfortable questions. But Vermot-Mangold says there is evidence that other European countries, including Germany are involved in the illegal trade. "We have evidence that illegal transplants are also carried out in Germany. I think the German police which deals with organized crime, should take a long, hard look", Vermot-Mangold told Deutsche Welle.

Germany is not the only country which will have to keep its eyes open, as the report has triggered the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to call on European governments to establish a cross-border strategy against illegal organ trade and to offer financial back-up for the international police authorities, Interpol and Europol.