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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
New Delhi
14 February 2008
Indian authorities are investigating a large-scale illegal organ transplant ring that involves removing kidneys from poor people and selling them to rich Indians and foreigners. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi that a thriving illegal trade in human kidneys has existed in India for at least a decade.
Few suspected what had been going on in a number of nursing homes and residential1 apartments in Gurgaon, a posh Delhi suburb, until police broke up an illegal kidney racket there.
Police say over the last decade, a group of doctors operating out of Gurgaon removed kidneys from at least 500 poor migrants and sold them to wealthy clients - both Indians and foreigners.
Initial investigations2 show the laborers3 received about $1,250 for their kidneys. The organs were re-sold for up to $50,000. The network involved a group of doctors, nurses, pathology clinics and hospitals.
While this is the most extensive ring of its kind to come to light in India, it is not the only one.
India outlawed4 trade in human organs in 1994. Kidney transplants are allowed only if the organ is donated by a blood relative or a spouse5.
But several cases have been exposed in recent years of doctors selling kidneys taken from poor people.
The editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics6, Doctor George Thomas, says the illegal kidney trade is fueled by rampant7 poverty and a long line of patients seeking transplants.
"There is very little regulation of what is going on in medical care in India, and when there is a situation where both patient and the donor8, both think they have something to gain, then there is very little chance of anything going wrong when they undertake the activity of removing the kidney without legal sanction," he said. "The problem is that on the one side there is tremendous poverty, on the other side desperation on the part of people who need the organ."
In the Gurgaon case, most donors9 said they had been forced to have their kidneys removed. Some said they were lured11 to the city from smaller towns by promises of jobs then whisked away to guarded homes, where the operations took place.
Experts, however, say the likelihood is that these poor people sold their organs, but will not admit to it for fear of prosecution12.
The modus operandi (operational method) of the trade is simple. Touts13 and middlemen scout14 small towns and city slums, and lure10 people in need of money.
Apparently15 finding poor organ donors is not difficult. The southern city of Chennai, which suffered major damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami16, has the reputation of being a major hub for kidney trafficking. A study conducted by the anti-poverty organization Action Aid showed how widespread the practice is there.
Action Aid's Annie Thomas says the group found that as many as 36 people among the 2000 families housed in just one resettlement colony had sold their kidneys. She says they were victims of the tsunami, and had a pressing need for money.
"Their livelihoods17 they had lost, and whatever they had, their earnings18 or their belongings19, they had lost. They had already taken some money from moneylenders, or they had some health issues," she explained.
Doctors say that the kidney trade can only be curbed20 by increasing the number of legal donors to bridge the gap between demand and supply. An estimated 100,000 Indians are diagnosed with renal (kidney) failure every year - mainly due to the high number of people suffering from diabetes21 and high blood pressure.
A kidney transplant surgeon, Sunil Shroff, has founded the non-profit Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network, a group that promotes organ donation.
He says that at the moment, only one body per two million people is donated for organ transplants - far fewer than in most other countries.
"We have a very low donation rate because there is no awareness22 about this program in this country, so what it means is we have a lot of brain-dead patients who could be potential donors," he said. "We need to push up this rate of donation."
Until that happens, the combination of unscrupulous doctors and teeming23 slums will continue to supply the illegal kidney trade.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
residential
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adj.提供住宿的;居住的;住宅的 | |
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2
investigations
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(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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3
laborers
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n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工 | |
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4
outlawed
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宣布…为不合法(outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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5
spouse
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n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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6
ethics
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n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
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7
rampant
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adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的 | |
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8
donor
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n.捐献者;赠送人;(组织、器官等的)供体 | |
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9
donors
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n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 );献血者;捐血者;器官捐献者 | |
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10
lure
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n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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11
lured
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吸引,引诱(lure的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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12
prosecution
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n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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13
touts
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n.招徕( tout的名词复数 );(音乐会、体育比赛等的)卖高价票的人;侦查者;探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 );招揽;侦查;探听赛马情报 | |
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14
scout
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n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索 | |
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15
apparently
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adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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16
tsunami
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n.海啸 | |
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17
livelihoods
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生计,谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 ) | |
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18
earnings
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n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得 | |
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19
belongings
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n.私人物品,私人财物 | |
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20
curbed
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v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
diabetes
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n.糖尿病 | |
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22
awareness
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n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智 | |
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23
teeming
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adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 );到处都是;(指水、雨等)暴降;倾注 | |
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