MANILA, Philippines -- With only 10 percent of kidney donations in the country coming from the dead, the Department of Health (DoH) plans to harness the untapped “source” by enforcing an efficient system of extracting organs from cadavers to completely discourage the commercial sale of kidneys.

The move, according to DoH officials, will help wean medical establishments from viewing organ donations and transplants as a “lucrative business” and will coincide with a recently signed administrative order which establishes the national policy on kidney transplantation and creates the Philippine Board for Organ Donation and Transplantation (PBODT).

At a press briefing on Thursday, DoH undersecretary Alexander Padilla said that the newly created board would discuss means on establishing a system of obtaining organs from the newly dead, which has been promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) but has not been fully tapped in the country because of existing cultural differences and beliefs.

The WHO said that the country would have enough supply of kidneys should an efficient extraction of kidneys from the newly dead be put in place.

“Instead of going commercial, we make an efficient system of cadaveric donation,” Padilla maintained.

The undersecretary pointed out that the formation of the PBODT and the drafting of the administrative order’s implementing rules and regulations would provide a good opportunity to discuss the enforcement of an efficient system for extraction.

The Philippine Renal Disease Registry 2006 report shows that 90 percent of kidney transplants in the country are from living donors, while only 10 percent come from the deceased.

DoH secretary Francisco Duque III said that before the administrative order was signed on Monday, several hospitals and surgeons enforced a voluntary moratorium on kidney transplants on foreign patients in support of the provisions of the department issuance.

“They are also aware of the international perception about our country being the kidney transplant capital and sourcing these kidneys from our poor citizens,” Duque stressed.

The DoH secretary said his department issued a cease and desist order to hospitals commercializing kidney transplants nationwide, to remove the perception.

The DoH, he revealed, either simply ordered them to stop or disaccredited them.

The provisions of the administrative order prohibit payment as a precondition for kidney donation and give priority to Filipino recipients while strictly limiting donations to foreign patients.

“Foreign patients may receive organs from local donors subject to the guidelines and limitations formulated for this purpose by the Philippine Network for Organ Donation and Transplantation (Phil NETDAT) as approved by the board,” a provision read.

“The board (PBODT) will discuss the limitations on foreign patients. The board could limit it to 10 percent, 50 percent or even 0 percent. That will depend on what decision the board could arrive at,” Duque said.

As for the prohibition on payments, the secretary pointed out that the board may come up with a gratuity package for the kidney donors and may rationalize the donor protection program that could be made up of health insurance, livelihood, post-transplant follow-up, and other safety nets.

This, he explained, would completely discourage the sale of kidneys by the needy who may not be aware of the effects of donation.

The administrative order, Duque said, sought to prevent the abuse and manipulation of the donors who were mostly poor.