Transplant lists grow longer year on year, and the percentage of successful matches made is in the single digits in most countries. While the purchase of organs is illegal almost everywhere in the world, organs are still procured through the growing black market. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that traffickers illegally obtain 7,000 kidneys each year globally.[2]

Criminal groups target the most vulnerable in society (the poor, the homeless, refugees and children); harvest their organs at a fraction of the cost of sale; and provide minimal subsequent care. Organ trafficking can also occur in addition to sex and/or labour trafficking as part of a multi-level equation of exploitation. As always, with the market forces at play and the demand being motivated by a life or death calculation, the question of how to manage the illicit trade is a major public health consideration. What is being done to address the trafficking of organs, and how can the private sector work in tandem with government, academia, and NGOs to combat this serious form of illicit trade?

This webinar is the sixth and final of the RESPECT Webinar Series 2015 “Understanding Illicit Trade: Impact of Human Trafficking and Smuggling on the Private Sector”, looking at emerging issues surrounding human trafficking and promising anti-trafficking initiatives from the private sector. This series is hosted by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime and Babson College’s Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery and through sponsorship by Dentons.  Also supported by TraCCC, the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University.

The webinar features a panel of experts from the private sector, academia, public policy, and the NGO community:

• Francis L. Delmonico, M.D., Executive Director, Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group; World Health Organization Advisory for Transplantation; Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital; and Medical Director, New England Organ Bank
• Debra Budiani-Saberi, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director, Coalition for Organ-Failure Solutions (COFS)
• Silke Albert, Crime Prevention Expert, Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Unit, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• Dr. Rudolf Garcia-Gallont, Transplant Programs, Guatemala Public Health System; Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group Executive Committee
• Laura Gómez-Mera, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of International Studies, University of Miami (moderator)

We were live-tweeting the meeting via the @GI_TOC account, with the hashtag: #GITrafficking.