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Organ Trafficking: Why Do Healthcare Workers Engage in It?

Trevor G Stammers
Published in: Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees (2022)
Organ trafficking in all its various forms is an international crime which could be entirely eliminated if healthcare professionals refused to participate in or be complicit with it. Types of organ trafficking are defined and principal international declarations and resolutions concerning it are discussed. The evidence for the involvement of healthcare professionals is illustrated with examples from South Africa and China. The ways in which healthcare professionals directly or indirectly perpetuate illegal organ transplantation are then considered, including lack of awareness, the paucity of both undergraduate and postgraduate education on organ trafficking, turning a blind eye, advocacy of organ commercialism, and the lure of financial gain.
Keyphrases
  • south africa
  • healthcare
  • stem cells
  • young adults
  • hepatitis c virus
  • health insurance