A man who sold his kidney shows his scar while cooking at his home in a slum area in Manila.
A man who sold his kidney shows his scar while cooking at his home in a slum area in Manila.

Manila may lift donation ban



Manila // A recent announcement by the Philippine health secretary that he was "open" to lifting a two-year-old ban on Filipinos donating their organs to foreigners is raising concerns that such a move might lead to state-sanctioned organ trafficking. A number of non-governmental organisations have expressed alarm over Dr Enrique Ona's comments, saying that lifting the ban will reopen the doors to what was once a thriving underground business that exploited the poor.

A respected surgeon and former head of the National Kidney and Transplantation Institute, Dr Ona said in an interview recently that he was opposed to the total ban on organ transplants. "It robs patients of the chance to live longer and better lives," he told local television ABS-CBN. "We have expats who have lived here for years," he said. "Suppose a Filipino wants to donate them a kidney, does that mean they can't receive it? Right now, it's a total ban. It has to be a government-regulated system. We will change the total ban on foreigners."

Dr Ona said his position is that such donations should be allowed but under strict government control. Dr Antonio Paraiso, head of the government's renal-disease control programme, said the ban was imposed to stop organ brokers from exploiting donors and clients by "short-changing one and overcharging the other". He said Dr Ona has now reopened the debate over whether the supply of organs from living donors can be done in an ethical and regulated market.

With millions of Filipinos living on less than US$1 (Dh3.67) a day, the Philippines had become one of the world's hotspots for organ harvesting. Foreign recipients paid up to $30,000 for a kidney while the donor would be lucky to get $2,000. Until the ban, the Philippines was ranked by the World Health Organisation as among the top five global destinations to buy a cheap kidney. The Philippines Against Child Trafficking, one of the leading campaigners against organ trafficking, said in a statement that the ban was imposed "in response to the thriving black market sale of organs ? many of them coming from teenagers."

In 2007, 536 foreigners received kidneys from living Filipinos compared with just one in 2002, according to data from the Philippine Renal Registry. A year after the ban the number fell to 34. Wency Dizon, the supervising co-ordinator of the government's organ procurement agency, said the 34 received organs from relatives. Seven thousand Filipinos die of renal failure every year, according to government data.

In June, the government established the country's first national organ-donor register. "But it is a hard sell in this predominantly Roman Catholic country," Mr Dizon said "The donor has to be declared brain dead first before we can take organs. It's a cultural thing. Unless the donor is declared brain dead, the family still lives in hope of a miracle," he said. "That goes for all classes of Filipino from the rich to the poor.

Between 2005 and 2008, about 15 kidneys from cadavers became available annually, he said. "Last year there were 30 and we have more than 1,000 people nationally waiting for kidney transplants," he said. Under the law Filipinos can receive kidneys from living donors as long as they are relatives or from a close friend. Three years ago the former justice secretary Raul Gonzales received a kidney from his driver.

To increase the supply of organs, Dr Ona said he is receptive to the concept of compensated donations in the "context of gratitude, not in the context of sales". Dr Ona has said he is in favour of "walk-in donors" or living non-related donors who can donate a kidney even though they are not related to the patient. He is open to giving a gratuity package to donors of about $3,000. "You don't allow it for people who just want to sell their kidneys. You have to look at their intentions and their situation. It's not as simple. Whether you are rich or poor, a person has the capacity to be charitable," he said.

Dr Alberto Chua, of the Philippine Society of Nephrology, said he is opposed to any reversal of the ban. He said offering a gratuity package to living, non-related donors would restart an organ market in the Philippines. "If I was a tricycle driver who only earns 3,000 pesos (Dh245) a month, maybe I would sell my own kidney to get $3,000," he said. @Email:kwilson@thenational.ae

How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries

• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.

• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.

• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.

• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.

• For more information visit the library network's website.

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Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

US PGA Championship in numbers

Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.

To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.

Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.

4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.

In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.

For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.

Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.

Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.

Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.

10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.

11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.

12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.

13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.

14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.

15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.

16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.

17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.

18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).

The specs

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Power: 150hp
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Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
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Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

England v South Africa Test series:

First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs

Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs

Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31

Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8

Gorillaz 
The Now Now 

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Power: 310hp
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Name: Carzaty

Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

Employees: 22

Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

Funding to date: $5.5 million

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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The%C2%A0specs%20
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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

Sunday's games

Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5