EIGHT out of the 24 hospitals that perform kidney transplantation in the country have violated the law that limits the number of such procedure done on foreigners, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

“In the past few years, there has been a reported increase in the number of kidney transplants done on foreign patients with kidneys coming from living Filipino nonrelated donors, most of them from poor communities,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“It was also observed that the 10-percent limit in foreign transplants has been exceeded in many transplant facilities, both in accredited and nonaccredited hospitals of the DOH,” added Duque.

From 2002 to 2006, kidney transplants done on foreigners whose donors were not related to them have increased to 62 percent of the total transplants in the country.

Lawyer Nicholas Lutero, DOH legal department chief, said eight of the 24 hospitals that perform kidney transplantation in the country have been issued cease and desist orders (CDOs) for allegedly violating the 10-percent cap for foreign patients.

These include the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu Doctors Hospital, Capitol Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center, Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Memorial Foundation, University of the East-Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center and Saint Francis Cabrini Medical Center.

CDOs were also issued against the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, St. Luke’s Hospital, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital, and Chinese General Hospital, whose accreditation as kidney- transplant facilities are still pending.

In 2006 a total of 690 transplants were done in the country. Sixty-three percent of the procedures were done on foreigners, mostly Arabs, the DOH said.

Duque said the priority given to foreign nationals and the rampant illegal sale of organs in the country prompted the government to impose a total ban on kidney transplantation for foreigners.

“This directive comes at a time when the Philippine government faces the ethical and moral imperative to protect Filipinos, particularly the poor, from the black-market sale of internal organs,” he added.

Duque reiterated that organ transplant is not part of the government’s medical-tourism program where foreigners come to the Philippines for treatment and pleasure.

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 visit the Philippines for medical tourism.

Last month the DOH issued an administrative order which set the guidelines for organ donation and transplants involving nonrelated donors. The total ban on kidney transplant for foreigners was an amendment to that policy.

Duque said the DOH-created organ board will create the implementing rules and regulations of the new policy which will be finalized by next week. The DOH has imposed a moratorium on kidney transplants for foreigners since January while the new administrative order is being drafted.

Duque, however, clarified that foreigners can still be accommodated for kidney transplantation in the Philippines as long as they have blood relations with their donors.

He warned that doctors and hospitals who will violate the new policy will face criminal sanctions and revocation of license to practice and operate.

Violators will be slapped with a jail term of a minimum of 20 years and a P1-million fine as mandated by Republic Act 9208, or the Antitrafficking in Persons Act, according to Lutero.

Duque added the organ board is also contemplating on banning transplants for Filipino patients with nonrelated donors to address the illegal sale of human organs in the country.

Kidney transplantation in the government-subsidized medical facilities costs between P350,000 to P500,000, while private hospitals charge between P1 million to P1.5 million, according to the health chief.

Meanwhile, the going rate for a kidney for sale is between P100,000 to P200,000, a big chunk of which goes to brokers who illegally solicit donors from poor communities.

Between 10,000 to 12,500 Filipinos develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) annually and about 50 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.

HSBC: Inflation could reach 8.5%

INFLATION could be as high as 8.5 percent between now and June, according to the regional chief economist of the global lender HSBC on Tuesday.

MILITANT groups on Tuesday filed before the Ombudsman a complaint against officials of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) for alleged price manipulation.

SANDIGANBAYAN sheriffs backed by policemen on Tuesday failed to locate former justice secretary Hernando Perez, his wife Rosario and brother in law Ramon Arceo, who were ordered arrested by the antigraft court on graft, extortion and other charges.

EIGHT out of the 24 hospitals that perform kidney transplantation in the country have violated the law that limits the number of such procedure done on foreigners, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

CITY OF MALOLOS—Several security guards and a mining operator in Bulacan on Tuesday filed several cases against retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and several others before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in this city.

THE National Police is closely coordinating with the Judiciary the turnover of confiscated firearms that have been submitted as evidence in court for the possible use of its members.

A COURT martial ordered on Tuesday the discharge from the service of five junior officers it found to have violated the Articles of War in connection with their participation in the Oakwood mutiny in Makati City almost five years ago.