Medical Black Market in Venezuela and Problems in Organ Transplantation

The medical black market has been exponentially growing in the past few decades. Black markets are the result of imbalance between supply and demand, and in this case specifically medical commodities such as drugs and organs. This imbalance may occur due to a numerous amount of factors or people. This includes the government, lack of money, etc. In regards to drugs, Illicit drugs are sourced from drug dependence, which is. It is also induced by a shortage of medicine in a country, or simply the lack of money to buy them at full retail price. As for organs, they are constantly in high demand growing since it first came into industry in the 16 th century.

Not to mention, are bribery and corruption in medical profession as well as are included under the term medical black market. Express your delegation’s relationship and stance on the matter, including past actions or policies. Venezuela has many ties to the medical black market, especially considering the economic turmoil built up in the past few years and critical medicine shortage. A major problem right now is transplant patients not having the proper medication for their post surgery recovery and heir body rejecting them organs.

This leaves thousands of Venezuelans alike relying on anti-rejection drugs to protect their transplanted organs relying on. Due to the shortage of medicine, as well as basic medical supplies such as catheters and surgical supplies. people are turning to black market for a cheaper alternative. In addition to drugs for patients in the market, misused drugs and drug dependency are also very prominent due to venezuela's geographical proximity to major illicit drug producing countries such as columbia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine. For instance, whenever drug trafficking groups were cracked down by Columbia government, they would respond by shifting more of their operations to Venezuela. A policy they have in efforts to reduce this is that travellers are screened for drug possession on arrival and departure and can also be screened while waiting in the airport.

Although drugs to supplement organ transplants are in shortage and venezuela’s organ donations are still in deficit, the health ministry taken several measures to ensure that everybody Organ transplants are not illegal, but the organs must be legitimately obtained. In 1997, the “Organización Nacional de Trasplante de Venezuela” (ONTV) was created. This private, non-profit organization’s main purpose to facilitate and coordinate the transplant activity in Venezuela. “The aim of ONTV is to establish a program to create a working interface between patients’ needs, scientific societies, and government authorities”. Then in 2001, an analysis exploring the perception of organ donation was conducted using a questionnaire adapted and validated by the Institute of Psychology of the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV).

The following statistics were revealed: 72% of the population was favorable to organ donation, 75% of the 72 out of feelings of solidarity and the other quarter to avoid organ waste. The study also revealed the main reasons as to why people oppose the idea of organ donation. fear that the organs were taken prematurely (25%), lack of confidence in the public health system(16%), and limited information about organ donation (11%). In 2012 Venezuela passed legislation on an opt-out system, and Venezuela’s Law on Donation and Transplant of Organs, Tissues, and Cells was implemented. It consists of a default donation system in which all residents of the country. This opt-out system has proven to be more effective than the opt in system and boosted donations by 25-39 percent compared to other countriesIt’s current legislation is very specific, with all health care institutions and hospitals have to be officially authorized for retrieval and transplantation.

Proper certification of death is required by law and presumed consent is the legal requirement for donation from deceased donors, which prevents coercion and does not promote/reduces organ trafficking. Actual expenditures of living donation are covered so that the donor is not responsible for them, which ensures that donors aren’t taken advantage of and. In Venezuela, there are no supplementary incentives for living donors, and giving or receiving payment for organs and trafficking are prohibited. Furthermore, the import and export of organs are controlled by law and traceability is required. Venezuela’s current organizational system is very thorough, comprising of many institutions at both the national and local level.

The National Donation and Transplant Program of the Ministry of Health responsible for the national coordination, Organ and Tissue Procurement System (OTPS) for execution under the supervision and control of the Ministry of Health. Coordinating institutions at regional and local level responsible for coordinating the promotion of organ donation, the setting up of protocols, guidelines and recommendations, managing waiting lists, coordinating organ procurement, allocation and transplant follow-up registries, as well as many other National Technical Committees/ Advisory Boards and Ethics Committees at local level dedicated to donation and transplantation issues. Included, there are standards related to donor detection, donor management, procurement, selection of recipients, storage and transportation, allocation and screening for transmissible diseases of deceased donors.