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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is banning kidney transplants for foreigners in a government crackdown on a growing but illicit trade in organs bought from the poor, officials said Tuesday.
The ban takes effect next month. Foreigners who violate it, as well as middlemen in any deal, can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined as much as 2 million pesos, about $48,000, the health secretary, Francisco T. Duque III, said.
Foreigners who are related to Filipino citizens by blood are exempted, Duque said.
Kidney transplants have become a lucrative underground business. Poor Filipinos have been willing to sell kidneys for $2,000 to $10,000, a huge sum for many families.
