A bill passed by Uganda parliament now permits human organ donation, and setting solid penalties for Human Organ Traffickers with a death sentence.
On Thursday 29th, 2022, the Ugandan parliament passed a bill that will permit the donation and transplant of human organs.
The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2022, establishes a legal framework for organ, cell, and tissue transplants in the East African nation.
Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said the demand for organ transplants was high but there was no law in place.
The bill also establishes the Uganda Organ and Transplant Council to oversee and regulate organ and cell donation and transplants.
Parliamentary Health Committee Chairperson Charles Ayume said Uganda has a backlog of candidates for transplants.
Penalties
There has been a public outcry in Uganda about the sale of organs and tissues from unwilling donors.
Some Ugandan women recruited for domestic work in the Middle East have often cried about being duped into taking medical procedures where their kidneys are harvested against their will.
The bill imposes a life sentence for anyone who removes an organ, tissue, or cell from a living donor without consent or authorization and prohibits the sale of organs for financial gains.
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Ugandan lawmakers has called off any trade in human body parts, after a series of media reports about criminals using force and trickery to take people’s organs.
According to the media reports, there have been cases where vulnerable domestic workers have lost kidneys and other organs after being pressed into having unnecessary operations.
The tissue was sold for use in transplants and other procedures abroad, the reports said.
“Parliament …. passes the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill, 2022 at third reading,” the assembly said on Twitter.
