A live kidney weighing 150-200gms is the most sought-after organ worldwide, with people willing to buy from unrelated live donors for a few lakh rupees. There are almost 2000 kidney transplants happening in India yearly – less than half this number meet the country’s legal requirements. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Secretary-General of Rajya Sabha, Sudarshan Agarwal are the two people who helped the enactment of an organ transplant law in India. India imports dialysis machines and its first made-in India machine has just gone on clinical trial though nephrological services began here some 50 years ago.

Harvesting of kidneys from unfortunate accident victims is the only solution to the shortage of kidneys for transplantation in India – with 150,000 accidents every year on the country’s deadly roads. To make kidneys available readily and legally to accident victims and the brain dead, the law needs amendment and a National Organ Harvesting Programme (NOHP) is urgently needed. In this book, Dr Ramesh Kumar reveals the stark reality of kidney scams in India and strongly advocates the need for a National Organ Harvesting Programme (NOHP).

Excerpt:

It was in the eighties that India became the ‘Kidney Bazaar’ of the world, where foreigners arrived as medical tourists to purchase organs from the illiterate and impoverished class. Initially, Mumbai was the epicentre of the ‘Kidney Trade’ because of its proximity to the Gulf and African countries. This practice quickly spread to Madras (Chennai), Calcutta (Kolkata), Bangalore (Bengaluru) and ultimately reached the north in places like Delhi and Punjab, devouring prominent hospitals in the wake of its tragedy.