Parliament to discuss organ transplantation law June 19

CAIRO – 9 June 2017: The Legislative and Constitutional Committee and the Health Affairs Committee in the Parliament will discuss on June 19 a draft law on organ transplantation. The law was prepared by the government and aims to amend some provisions of law No. (5) for the year 2010.

The committees expressed their agreement to the proposed law in a joint report on Thursday.

Earlier in May, the Legislative and Constitutional Committee approved imposing harsher penalties into the 2010 law regulating organ transplantation in Egypt.

The 2010 law prohibits the buying and selling of human organ and tissues. The punishment includes imprisonment and a fine between LE 20,000 and LE 100,000. If the act was committed on a living person, it would result in imprisonment of no more than seven years; if the donor dies then the punishment can include a fine of up to LE 200,000.

The approved amendments to the law included applying punishment of strict imprisonment and a fine between LE 500,000 and LE 1 million on any person who removes an organ from a human body with the intention of illegally transplanting it.

If the illegal act is committed on a living person, the guilty doctor would be imprisoned for no more than 10 years. If the patient dies, then the penalty becomes life imprisonment and a fine between LE 500,000 and LE 1 million.

The law stipulates that it is not allowed to transplant an organ or part of an organ or tissue to another human being unless it is necessary to save the life of the patient, so long as there are no alternatives to saving the patient’s life and does not pose a danger to the donor.

The law prohibits transplanting organs from Egyptians to non-Egyptians, unless the donor and the recipient have been married for at least three years.

The Anti-Trafficking Law imposes a penalty one to five years imprisonment on those found guilty of violating the law, in addition to a financial penalty of between LE 50,000 and LE 200,000.
The law states that any transplantation should be donated by the recipient’s relatives. However, in case the donor is a non-relative, the law states that a committee should be formed to ensure that there are no violations of the criteria stipulated by Egyptian law.

In 2016, Egyptian authorities arrested 12 doctors and eight nurses involved in an international organ trafficking group. In addition, four private hospitals and six laboratories were involved, and the police confiscated millions of pounds in addition to gold found in the possession of the culprits.