Organ TraffickingThere are many great issues faced by society every day and organ trafficking is one of them. Organ trafficking is a practice of stealing people’s organs through surgery under the influence of drugs or from a dead person. The World Health Organization, also known as WHO, has estimated that 75 percent of 100,000 organ transplants are transplanted every year come from black markets through a widespread organ-trafficking network. The impacts on society from organ trafficking are that people get depressed and scared.
People can die either from getting organ harvested or getting an illegal organ transplant that may lead to higher risk of disease. First of all, nobody wants to fear that they will get organ harvested if they go get an exam to check their health. Second of all, nobody wants to lose a loved one. It can be traumatizing once a loved one is gone, people can get mental health issues such as anxiety, insecurity, fear, and of course trauma. Therefore, organ trafficking is important because black markets are stealing organs from people who have no say in it and it can affect anyone. Sadly, organ trafficking is still considered a victimless crime.
This essay will give you a better understanding, give examples of actions that are being taken, and give suggestions on how you can help effectively address the issue.First of all, people think that organ trafficking is a victimless crime as it helps the sick get healthy, the poor get money, and the middleman earns a living by connecting them. However, hundreds of people involuntarily get organ harvested. Anyone in this world could get organ harvested. For example, If someone were to get an exam to ensure their good health, they may even leave without a kidney unknowingly. Even children have to risk their lives involuntarily as black markets need their organs to match other children that are in need of organ transplant.
Also due to organ shortage, many transplanted organs are taken from the cadavers of elderly or ill people, which has at times led to the organs failing or higher risk of diseases. However, waiting for a “better” organ can be dangerous, since those remaining on wait lists have a high risk of death. The truth is that black markets don’t care if the organs work or not, as long as they get money from it. Many people become apart of black markets as they are poor and are desperate for money. In that case, the prices could range from $700 to billions of dollars. In the end, organ trafficking is a problem that affects us all. In fact, it is a problem for people all over the world. Organs are sold in black markets in over 24 countries.
Some examples of countries that have organ trafficking include the United States, China, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada, India, United Kingdom, Russia, etc. Unfortunately, organ trafficking has been a problem for many decades. The first successful organ transplant, performed in 1954 by Joseph Murray, involved identical twins. In the 1970s, they were introduced to pharmaceuticals which helped to prevent organ rejection. At that time, people started to realize that organ transplants need to be more safe. However due to lack of evidence and reliable data, organ trafficking is still a problem that has not be solved yet. In the United States, there are about 120,000 people waiting for an organ transplant, and the list gains more people by every ten minutes. 22 people die a day while on this list, and a single organ donor can save 8 people.
By donating, people could help about 75 people but only 42 percent of Americans register. The reality is that we need black markets for organs because both the government and citizens fail to help donate.There are actions to help solve this issue. In 2014, Robert D. Truog, Center for Bioethics of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, wrote an open letter to Barack Obama and other U.S. leaders supporting the creation of pilot projects to study forms of compensating live kidney donors. In the letter, Robert D.
Truog addressed urgent needs, the transplant procedures’ low safety risks, decrease in financial costs, etc.Organ trafficking needs us to help. We must not let people get organ harvested. We could help by donating our organs. However, one person is not enough and so other than donating our organs, we could report suspicious activity and spread the word. The first suggestion to help prevent organ trafficking is to report suspicious activity.
First, contact law enforcement if you suspect trafficking. Traffickers often try to trick their victims by posing as doctors and convincing them to undergo unnecessary operations. In many cases, they may even kidnap a fresh supply of organs. We don’t want that to happen, and so we must be on the lookout for suspicious wounds or patient details. We should pay close attention to patients’ wounds. After we are confident that there is organ trafficking, we should report it. Another suggestion is to spread the word. The more people that are involved, the closer we get to ending organ trafficking for good.
In the end, we won’t need black markets anymore and we won’t have to worry about dying and/or losing a loved one. Some examples of spreading the word is telling everyone we know, holding events, spreading the message on social media, etc. We need to do whatever we can so that more people know about it.In conclusion, we must help stop organ trafficking as there is a possibility that we may get affected by this issue. The essay has given us a better understanding, and examples of actions and suggestions that address this issue. To sum it up, we all need to help stop organ trafficking as it can affect anyone.
