Pakistani puts Kidney up for online Auction

Bizarre as it sounds, a Pakistani has put his kidney up for sale at a leading auction website of the country.

In recent years, Pakistan has emerged as one of the largest centres for commerce in renal transplantation but an anonymous 26-year-old "healthy male"deciding to sell his kidney on bolee.com is a pointer towards the thriving trade.

An advertisement on 'Pakistan’s First Auction Site’ reads, "Kidney for Sale: I am a 26-year-old healthy person and want to sell one of my kidneys for AB+ compatible person. My demand is Rs 600,000 (operation and other medical expenses will be borne by kidney purchaser)."

The donor, who is supposedly based in Islamabad, has a month and 21 days left to get an auctioneer. There have been no bids yet.

According to a recent research, Pakistan has now emerged as one of the largest centres for commerce and tourism in renal transplantation. Of the 239 kidney vendors contacted by the researchers, 69% were bonded labourers, 12% labourers, 8.5% housewives and 11% unemployed.

Their mean age was around 35 years. Though kidneys are sold for about $1,500, post-operation the donors hardly ever benefit.

"Transplants are a lucrative business for Pakistani doctors, hospital staff and 'fixers’ who exploit the gullible and the needy,"Anwar Naqvi, a senior surgeon said.