In what may be a somewhat sensationalized report, the Latvian news portal www.apollo.lv is reporting that increasing numbers of apparently unemployed Latvians are offering to sell their organs, mainly kidneys, on the internet.
According to the website, the practice is not sanctioned by he Latvian Trasnplantation Center, but legal experts say selling kidneys is not forbidden (though in a legal gray area).
Prices asked for "healthy kidneys" on the Latvian classified ads site zip.lv range from LVL 5000 (USD 10 000) to LVL 50 000 (USD 100 000).
The kidney sellers interviewed by apollo.lv say they are in debt and unemployed, or in some cases, willing to sell the organ in order to "live, rather than exist" (an 18-year old) after paying off unnamed bills and debts.
While many of the organ sellers may be genuinely desperate, some may be using their kidneys as a substitute for the easy credit of a few years ago, when it was possible to borrow several tens of thousands of LVL to buy luxury goods, electronics, foreign travel or an apartment).
The reports of organ selling put Latvia, an EU member state, on the same level as some Third World countries, where the practice is widespread among the poor.
7 comments:
vot dēļ tādiem, kā tu LV citviet pasaulē asociējās ar neko labu!
Anoymous,
Tādi ir fakti. Valsts tēls nav labāks par faktiem.
These are the facts, and the image of the country cannot be better than the facts.
Sad. These people are really corrupted. It is just easy way out for many but is it? Lazy bums...I don't believe they couldn't do something else to get through these tough times. We all live in the same place, we all have brains to use, two arms and two legs, some are doing better than others so what does country has to do with your decision to sell your guts? Whoever these people are we don't need them and their ridiculous solutions to problems. Country will be weak as long as people will not be prepared to fight for better living standards and keep acting as victims. Don't be stupid, don't sell your precious organs.
OK, we FAILed.
What can we do now?
What are we supposed to do?
Does any Latvian journalist ask himself a question "What does reader should do after reading my article"?
We can learn from other nations who has built their countries.
We can see other nations are failing too in some extent. Let me name a bad situation with an immigration, for example. (Yeah, no pig tales in the UK). In the US, somebody tries to sell a crypt in cemetery over Marilyn Monroe... what a desperate situation, isn't it?
I would like to say that Latvians exaggregate the things here.
It could be much better to write about telecom, IT and tech startups. And about opportunities in China.
Until Latvians take a cold hard look at where they are, how they got there and who is to blame they will never get out of the hole they have dug for themselves.
I have heard Russia described as Nigeria with nukes, where do you think that puts Latvia on an international scale?
Selling an organ is the least that is happening in the shadows of this country.
Can't they find a job somewhere in GB or Germany. Surely picking strawberries in Ireland is better than selling organs. Besides, you can only sell so much. Then what??? Money for a kidney won't last u for the rest of your life.
They are not capable of anything of that sort I suppose. It's actually funny. People moan that country has failed but these same people are selling their organs. Aren't people failed? Such extreme and other minor incidents happen a lot on a daily basis where people have choice and they opt to take irresponsible, unethical one. And these are not heads of government, just regular folks. Look at yourself!
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