By Chiru Murage

A group of Australian politicians from different parties have united under the name Parliamentarians Against Forced Organ Harvesting (PAFOH) to raise awareness across the world about this emerging issue. The newly formed group met for the first time on July 16 this summer on lifting the rate of organ donation in Australia to combat the huge supply and demand imbalance in organ transplants.

The group also focused on addressing what it sees as the illegal organ trade in China, where law permits the removal of organs for transplant from executed prisoners. China, being the 2^nd leading country in organ transplantations, has repeatedly defended the practice, even amidst reports that most organs don’t come from inmates, but from thousands of innocent civilians are murdered every year in the country for organ harvesting. The PAFOH meeting looked at the success of Spain’s opt-out organ donation system, which leads the world with the number of voluntary donations. With an estimated 10% of global transplants coming from the illegal organ trade (according to the World Heath Organization) the formation of groups like the PAFOH are now necessary to combat the further growth of this illegal trade that has left many victims in its wake.

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