RP protests transplant ads

RP protests transplant ads

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines has asked Japan to put a stop to advertisements promoting cheap kidney transplants in the Philippines on ethical grounds, the Foreign Affairs Department here said yesterday.

But the Philippines was told such a ban on the private adverts in Japanese newspapers would lack any legal basis, it added.

Observers say transplants are cheaper in the Philippines than in Japan and that organs are more readily available here.

The foreign department said a Japanese firm was advertising kidney transplants to be carried out in the Philippines for 30 million-yen (US$300,000).

The Japanese firm, Three Star Japan, Inc., demands a 20 percent downpayment on checking into hospital and promises a check-up after a year, it added.