Researchers Warn Against Traveling Abroad for Kidney Transplant

Researchers have said that the risks associated with kidney transplant tourism not worth the risk because recipients never live healthy lives.

Researchers in Bahrain discovered that people who traveled abroad to buy a kidney — to countries like the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Iran — sometimes developed serious infections.

Those infections included the liver diseases hepatitis B and C, as well as cytomegalovirus, which can be life-threatening to transplant recipients.

Dr. Amgad El Agroudy, of Arabian Gulf University said “We really have no way of knowing what the numbers are,” said Danovitch, who was not involved in the study.
“My sense is that the numbers are fairly small, as the dangers of transplant tourism are becoming more and more clear.

“In a paid system, the prime focus is on making money. Centers that are willing to do these don’t really care what happens to the donors or recipients after the transplant.”