There is no agency or body that regulates the harvesting or transplanting of human organs in Nigeria, Amisu Mumuni, the chairman of Medical Consultants Association of Nigeria, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), has said.
Mr Mumuni spoke during a one-day public hearing on a bill to establish an organ harvest transplantation department in the Lagos State Ministry of Health organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
He said they had been working with the Ministry of Justice on the issue for a long time, adding that the law would regulate organ harvesting and transplanting in the state.
“It is a step in the right direction. A regulatory body is being set up for the first time to regulate organ harvesting and transplantation in the country,” he said.
“None had existed in Nigeria in the past and it has provided a gap to many things. It is a good starting point for regulating transplantation.
“But I want to advise that the department should be independent. The membership of the committee should be increased.”
The bill to regulate organ harvesting and transplanting in the state, which includes criminalising illegal organ trade, scaled through second reading in the House of Assembly last week.
Hakeem Sokunle, Chairman, House Committee on Health Services, said an organ harvest transplantation department was to advise the state government on all matters relating to organ harvest, transplantation, and preservation.
The lawmaker said the department would also formulate and develop state strategies, guidelines, and protocols for medical transplant and harvest in the state.
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