VICE On HBO To Expose The Heartbreaking Underworld Of Black Market Kidney Donation In Bangladesh
There are few things seen as a greater gift than the donation of a lifesaving organ.
Unfortunately, the reality of organ transplantation is one of scarcity; there simply aren’t enough donors to go around, even with presumably expendable organs like kidneys. In the United States, there are currently 123,292 potential recipients on a waiting list, with more than three-fourths specifically needing a kidney, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network . Meanwhile, there were only 5,820 living donors in 2014.
This mismatch has long stymied health officials and led to calls to overhaul the current volunteer-based model of living donations. Instead, they say, we should provide financial compensation as a means of enticement, much like we do with sperm, plasma and egg donations. Yet others have warned of the slippery slope that we might be headed for should that happen, wary of the possible corruption and exploitation of poor donors. As ammunition, they’ve pointed to other countries where prospering illegal organ marketplaces fueled by the demand of wealthy foreigners have sprouted up, and to the crippling fallout incurred upon the sellers of these precious gifts.
Now, this Friday May 15 at 11 p.m. on HBO, Vice correspondent Vikram Gandhi will provide an up-close and devastating look at these black market kidney shops, visiting the slums of Bangladesh to interview those desperate enough to sell their body parts for cash. If this sneak preview is anything to go by, it’s sure to be an informative and heart-rending segment.