Amid Poverty & Starvation, Desperate Afghans Sell Kidneys For Survival

In a desperate move to survive and feed their starving children, many Afghans have now resorted to selling their kidneys.

With neck-deep debt, poverty and joblessness, they are left with no other choice to make their ends meet amidst the humanitarian crisis.

The Telegraph

And this 'unregulated' kidney selling practice has become so widespread in the city of Herat that it is bleakly nicknamed ¡®one-kidney village¡¯, as per a report in Al Jazeera.

With hundreds of thousands unemployed across the crisis-hit country, many people in Afghanistan have been selling their kidneys as a short-term fix for survival.

Selling Kidney For As Low As $1,500 In Unregulated Market

As per AFP, some Afghans had to sell their kidney for as little as $1,500.

¡°There is no law to control how the organs can be donated or sold, but the consent of the donor is necessary,¡± said Mohammad Wakil Matin, a former top surgeon at a hospital in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, as per a report in Al Jazeera.

Mohamad Bassir Osmani, a surgeon at one of two hospitals where the majority of Herat¡¯s transplants are performed, said ¡°We take written consent and a video recording from them ¨C especially from the donor.¡±

Afghans desperate for money are usually matched by brokers with wealthy patients, who travel to Herat from across the country, and sometimes even from India and Pakistan, as per a report in Al Jazeera.

It's the recipient who pays both the hospital fees and the donor.

Also Read: How Sri Lanka's Economic Crisis Has Led To Used Cars Costing More Than A Luxury Flat

The ¡®Luxury¡¯ To Recover?

AFP Photo

Although in developed nations, donors and recipients usually go on to lead full and normal lives, their after-surgery health is usually closely monitored, and a balanced lifestyle and diet are vital for recovery.

But that luxury is often not available to poor Afghans who sell a kidney and still find themselves trapped in poverty, and sometimes in ill health.

The Worsening Crisis

Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the country has been plunged into a financial crisis, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation after fighting the past 20 years of war.

More than half of the country¡¯s 38 million population suffers from acute hunger, with nearly nine million Afghans at risk of famine, as per the United Nations.

In the wake of US sanctions, the foreign aid that once propped up the country has been slow to return. The country¡¯s economy has almost collapsed after international financial institutions cut funding and the US froze Afghanistan assets.

Last month, US President Joe Biden had decided to withhold about $7bn in Afghan assets, repurposing half of the money as compensation to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. This move was called unfair by Afghanistan.

Amid the worsening humanitarian crisis, aid agencies and experts have called for the lifting of sanctions against the Taliban, as per Al Jazeera. But it remains to be seen whether Afghanistan is able to get the required funds.

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