Doctor: MP's 'selling kidney' claim harms organ donation efforts

 

A doctor-cum-organ donation expert has lamented the potential harm caused by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s claim that there are people selling their kidneys to make ends meet.

Dr Abdul Jabbar Ismail said there are already families who are reluctant to donate their deceased loved ones’ organs due to fears that doctors are just working for organ-selling syndicates.

“There’s a real stigma (to organ donation). They are already suffering a lot losing their loved ones and have to face us asking questions like this.

“That is why I said when an elected MP makes childish and irresponsible statements like this, it will hamper our efforts to help more than 30,000 ESRF patients on hemodialysis,” he said in a series of tweets.

ESRF refers to end-stage renal failure, which can’t be cured by haemodialysis and only an organ transplant to replace the failed kidney can allow patients to live a relatively normal life.

Jabbar was relating his experience while serving as an organ donation coordinator at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, from 2019 to 2020.

Wan Fayhsal (above) made the kidney-selling claim at a press conference in Parliament yesterday when pressing the government to approve another round of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal.

“If targeted (EPF) withdrawals are not approved, what is the government’s suggestion to help the people who are struggling, to the point that some had to sell their kidneys, or walk from Johor to Istana Negara,” he had said.

The Machang MP courted brickbats after a clip of his remarks went viral on social media.

‘Illegal, impossible’ to sell organs

Like many others, Jabbar noted that selling organs was illegal.

He also said that an illicit transplant would be very difficult to carry out.

“It’s very difficult to perform a kidney transplant if you had to do it secretly because kidney procurement and transplant requires a huge team. 

“Procurement, transportation, preventing ischemic injury (ischemia time) during transport,” he said.

Doing it at a hospital is also a no-go, he said, as the organ would need to have been registered with the National Transplant Resource Centre.

Further, he said, organ recipients would need a transplant immunology workup, as well as lifelong follow-up treatment with a nephrologist after surgery.

“Thus, it is not only illegal, it’s also impossible to sell organs in Malaysia. It’s very irresponsible for an elected MP to make a statement like that,” he said.

Demanding another round of EPF withdrawals has been a key demand by Perikatan Nasional.

However, Putrajaya has refused to concede, saying it would endanger retirement savings of those who are nearing retirement age but are financially insecure.

Instead, the government has allowed struggling EPF contributors to use their Account 2 as a means of support in securing a loan from banks. - Mkini