THE Department of Health (DOH) is set to announce Tuesday a total ban on kidney transplants for foreign patients a month after it approved the policy to end the illegal sale of human organs in the country.

The department suspended organ transplantation for foreigners in January as it drafted the new policy which also paved the way for the creation of a board that will set the guidelines on all organ-transplant procedures in the country.

The department sent an advisory to reporters on Monday saying the DOH will announce the ban on Tuesday.

Enrique Ona, chief of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) said the total ban on organ procedures for foreigners is a “welcome move” to address the commercialization of organ donation in the country.

The temporary ban on organ transplant for foreigners was done in the wake of reports that non-Filipinos are being prioritized for medical procedure over local patients as donors are offered payments between P100,000 to P200,000 each.

The administrative order, signed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in March said “kidney transplantation is not part of medical tourism.”

Since 2005, when the government ventured in medical tourism, various health facilities have opened their services to foreign patients in a bid to make the Philippines not only a tourist spot but also a medical destination.

From 2006 to 2007, about 200,000 patients from countries that include the United States and its territories, South Pacific nations, Canada, Korea and Japan, have come to the Philippines for medical tourism.

There are a total of 20 medical facilities in Metro Manila that performs organ transplantation, the DOH said. Six or seven of those hospitals have been sanctioned for violating the law on organ transplantation.

A new board created by the DOH recommended the total ban on organ transplantation for foreigners.

Between 10,000 to 12,500 Filipinos develop end stage renal disease annually and about 50 percent to 60 percent of them are kidney-transplant candidates.

However, less than 10 percent are given transplants because of insufficient supply and the failure of patients to raise money for the procedure.

Sandiganbayan orders arrest of Perez

THE Sandigabayan on Monday ordered the arrest of former justice secretary Henando Perez, his wife and his brother-in-law.

THE Department of Health (DOH) is set to announce Tuesday a total ban on kidney transplants for foreign patients a month after it approved the policy to end the illegal sale of human organs in the country.

THE Senate, particularly its members who “weakened” the cheaper-medicines bill, must account for its refusal to consider, negotiate or even compromise on the generics-only provision, a militant legislator said Monday.

ANY move to change the mandate of the National Food Authority (NFA) in the midst of the rice crisis could only worsen the situation for both the consuming public and the government, Malacańang was warned on Monday.

FORMER Nueva Ecija governor Tomas Joson III and two officials who used to be acting provincial treasurers are now facing criminal complaints before the Ombudsman for alleged malversation of public funds and violation of the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act.

THE united and determined effort to find missing activist Jonas Burgos entered its first year on Monday with his family firmer in its quest to find him and stronger in its accusation that the military is involved in his disappearance.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported to a congressional oversight panel that it had approved in principle the proposals of two companies to automate the August 11 elections in at least three provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

INSTEAD of giving dole-outs to poor families, the government should course cash gifts to nongovernment organizations (NGOs) who provide services to the underprivileged, said Caritas Manila, the charity arm of the Archdiocese of Manila.