China hospital disposes of live baby | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

China hospital disposes of live baby

November 7, 2011 about International

Following the discovery, the newborn was rushed to intensive care where he remains in a stable condition.


Health authorities in south China said Friday they were investigating a hospital medical team for mistakenly diagnosing a stillbirth and disposing of a baby that was alive.
The probe is taking place at the Nanhai Red Cross Hospital in the Guangdong provincial city of Foshan where the incident occurred on October 26, the Nanhai district health bureau said in a statement faxed to AFP.
According to the statement, Liu Dongmei — eight months pregnant — had been rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding and stomach cramps.
She later had an emergency birth, but the baby was neither breathing nor crying after leaving the womb and its skin had turned purple, it said.
Believing it was dead, the medical team disposed of the child but did not follow proper hospital procedures, the statement added.
The Foshan News, a local website, reported that when Liu’s sister-in-law asked to see the body around 30 minutes after birth, she was handed a yellow plastic bag containing the infant and found it was still alive.
“I opened the plastic bag and saw the baby’s hands and feet moving, the stomach was going up and down and air bubbles were coming out of his mouth,” the paper quoted her as saying.
She was further shocked when she saw the baby was a boy — not a girl as the family had been told, it said.
According to the Foshan News, nurses had told the family the child was a girl in an effort to blunt the blow of its death.
In China, baby boys are often viewed as more precious than girls, as many families can have only one child as part of the nation’s population policy and desire a male heir.
Following the discovery, the newborn was rushed to intensive care where he remains in a stable condition.
Officials at the hospital refused to comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.
China’s healthcare system — once widely praised for improving the health of millions — is now panned as costly, underfunded and providing shoddy treatment, especially in poorer regions.
Liu and her husband are seeking to sue the hospital for 300,000 yuan ($45,000), the Beijing News said.
The head of the maternity ward, a doctor and two nurses have been suspended pending the results of the investigation, it added.

AFP

Lively underground for internal organs Vietnam

"Vietnamese law forbids trade in internal organs but there seems to be a lively underground market, reports the local media.



Deputy PM asks investigate into illegal kidney-trading ring

Donors still wary despite need for organs

Strides in organ transplants reflect progress in nation's healthcare



Kidney patients at Hanoi's Bach Mai hospital (photo: Dan Tri)



Vernacular newspapers have reported that two young men were recently handing out leaflets at the gate of the Army Hospital 108 in Hanoi, each offering one of his kidneys for 50 million dong ($4500). This news has attracted attention to the underground trade in internal organs, particularly kidneys.



VnExpress reported that the two men who advertised to sell their kidneys were from nearby Hai Duong province. First they tried to sell their kidneys to hospitals to raise money to pay their parents’ debts. The hospitals turned them away because what they proposed is illegal. Resolved to find a buyer, the men turned to handing out leaflets.



This may be the first case of its type in Vietnam. However, there are many online offers to buy and sell kidneys on the Internet and there is also a “real market” for kidneys, as reporters from VnExpress, Dan Tri and Tuoi Tre newspapers have found out.



“I’m 24 and very healthy. My blood type is O+. I want to donate a kidney. Please contact me by email, vodanh.. @yahoo.com for details” read an advertisement on raovat.com, Vietnam’s clone of EBay.



The kidney seller told reporters that he is a student who had to quit school because he didn’t have money to pay school fees. He is in debt.



“My life is at a standstill. I know that it (selling a kidney) is not good for my health but I have made my decision. I wish to deal directly with the patient who needs my kidney because I don’t want to enrich go-betweens,” he wrote.



Many people posted their mobile phone numbers. This kind of ad is often short, like: “I need to sell a kidney at the price of 50 million dong, blood type B-, 21 years old, healthy. Contact: 0916…).



Tuoi Tre answered an online ad to make contact with a pharmaceutical company employee in HCM City named L, who said he could put people in touch with would-be kidney sellers.



“I hunted for a kidney for my nephew on the Internet. First I met a man in District 4 (HCM City) but he looked like a drug addict so I didn’t dare deal with him. Later I met two students, a male and a female from Can Tho University but my uncle couldn’t afford their price; they asked for a hundred million dong. I still have their phone numbers. If you like, I will give them to you,” this man told the Tuoi Tre reporters.



With L’s information, Tuoi Tre contacted ‘M’ from Can Tho University by phone. M said that he recently had to stop studying because his family couldn’t support his studies anymore. He is the third child of a farmer family in Kien Giang, a lower Delta province.



“My family is deep in debt so I decided to sell one of my kidneys for 100-120 million dong to save my family,” he said. The student said he is not worried for his health because he have done some research. He knows that a person has two kidneys but can live with only one kidney.



‘L’ commented that “M’s circumstance is very pitiful. If you buy his kidney, you should be responsible for his health in the future. If you decide to buy his kidney, we can see each other to make a written commitment on kidney donation and health assistance for him. I’m willing to be the third party to guarantee the commitment”.



VnExpress also discovered online kidney selling advertisements. A man in HCM City posted this ad: “Need to buy a kidney to save a man, at high price. My brother is now in the last stage of kidney failure. Anybody who wants to sell me a kidney please call 094…. My brother’s blood type is B.”



VNExpress called this man and he told the reporter that his brother had been saved, thanks to the advertisement. He said many people had called him offering their kidneys at from 20 to 70 million dong. To make it ‘legal,’ I “just went to the hospital to get a verification of kidney donation,” the man told VNExpress.



Tuoi Tre reporters mixed with the crowds outside two HCMC hospitals, People’s Hospital 115 and Cho Ray Hospital, to investigate. Some motorbike taxi drivers at People’s Hospital 115 recommended two kidney “brokers” named K and D.



They found D at the gate of the People’s Hospital 115. D told a Tuoi Tre reporter to give him his phone number, promising to call later if he found a seller. D said that a kidney might cost up to 300 million dong.



Tuoi Tre also learned that two men named V and N are notorious among kidney brokers. N is a taxi driver near the People’s Hospital 115. He has a list of poor people who regularly sell their blood. When N has a buyer for a kidney, he will persuade a blood seller to sell their kidney. N buys a kidney for 50-60 million dong then sells the organ to a recipient for over 300 million dong.



What do doctors say?



Tuoi Tre's reporter met with a 'kidney broker' named D (on motorbike) at the gate of the People’s Hospital 115 in HCM City (Photo: Tuoi Tre)



Dr. Nguyen Cao Luan, a nephrologist (kidney specialist) at Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital, says that kidney selling advertisements are very common. Many young people approach his staff to offer their kidneys. They are turned away with the explanation that organ sales are illegal.



Dr. Luan says that most of the kidneys used in transplant operations in Vietnam are donated by the patients’ relatives. Some patients purchase kidneys and go to China for operations. They can also declare the kidney sellers to be their relatives to make the affairs ‘legal.’ Luan notes that if hospitals carefully verify transplant cases and refuse to operate on suspect cases, the kidney trade will be prevented.



“It is a fact that many people dodge the law to sell their kidneys,” Luan explained. “According to regulations, kidney donors have to submit their ID card, etc. but this procedure is not followed in some hospitals. Doctors always want to save their patients. If the kidneys are suitable, they rationalize the decision to transplant them.”



Dr. Luan considers it normal that people offer to sell their kidneys because the need for the organs is acute and it is not a bad thing to sell kidneys. He also said that it will be good for both kidney sellers and buyers if there were both a law regulating kidney selling and a kidney bank in Vietnam.



Doctor Ta Phuong Dung from People’s Hospital 115 says that to cope with “disguised” kidney donation, the hospital asks for written confirmation of kidney donation by the local government where the would-be donor and intended recipient live if they are not relatives. Hospital 115 has carried out 33 kidney transplant operations so far.



“This provides legal protection for the surgeons in case accidents happen to the kidney donors,” Dung explains.



Dr. Tran Ngoc Sinh of Cho Ray hospital says that it is very difficult for someone to donate their kidney to a stranger. “We only perform kidney transplant operations after carefully verifying that the donations are completely voluntary,” he adds.



According to Sinh, his hospital has performed over 180 kidney transplants. In only two cases were the donor and recipient not blood relatives. In one case, a husband donated his kidney to his wife and in the other case, a Buddhist nun donated her kidney to her disciple.



Nguyen Huy Quang, deputy director of the Ministry of Health’s Legal Department, confirmed that it is illegal to sell and purchase kidneys. Of over 300 kidney transplant operations have been carried out in Vietnam so far, Quang said, all kidney donors were relatives of the recipients."

Patients Flocking to Asia for Low Cost, Quality Treatment

RNCOS has released a report on the Asian medical tourism industry "Asian Medical Tourism Analysis (2008-2012)"- which says that Asia represents the world's most potential medical tourism market. The region accounted for nearly 12.7% of the global market and generated US$ 3.4 Billion revenues in 2007. The market is anticipated to remain strong in future too, registering a CAGR growth of 17.6% during 2007-2012.According to the report, the medical tourism market has been hitting it big due to improving healthcare infrastructure in the region. Countries, particularly India, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, are successfully meeting the demand for quality healthcare through world-class medical infrastructure and trained medical professionals, including tertiary hospital care. Most of the medical professionals in these countries are trained in world-class institutions abroad. Hence, hospitals provide foreign patients highly qualified, board-certified physicians, medical technicians, and top-tier nursing staff, together with highly personalized care. As a result, the success rate of complicated surgeries and patient satisfaction is very high.Another important factor pushing up the medical tourism in the Asian countries is low cost, says the report. Treatment cost in the Asian countries is very low against the developed countries. For instance , it ranges from one half to one-fifth of the prices in the US and other developed countries. Moreover, in some cases, the treatment cost is as less as 80% of the cost abroad. However, it depends on the destination country and the type of procedure to be performed."Asian Medical Tourism Analysis (2008-2012)" comprehensively studies the Asian medical tourism market and provides past, current and future overview on the five major Asian medical tourism markets - India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines. It identifies vast differences between the various Asian tourism markets in terms of cost, infrastructure, patient perception, human resources, and level of government support. The RNCOS study gives statistical data on the market size, tourist arrivals, infrastructure and accreditations on all the five countries, complemented with analytical profiles on these markets. It thoroughly studies the market and provides forecast on its various segments, including medical tourism market and medical tourist arrivals by country.About RNCOS:RNCOS, incorporated in the year 2002, is an industry research firm. It has a team of industry experts who analyze data collected from credible sources. They provide industry insights and analysis that helps corporations to take timely and accurate business decision in today's globally competitive environment.For more information visit: http://rncos.com/Report/IM105.htmCurrent Industry News: http://www.rncos.com/Blog/