KARACHI - President and Secretary General of Transplant Society of Pakistan Prof Adibul Hassan Rizvi and Prof Mirza Naqi Zafar in their joint statement have expressed their serious concerns over violation of Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Act (HOTTA). They said that the recent news report in several newspapers demonstrates that illegal transplants of foreigners continue in back street make shift centres in Punjab in blatant violation of the Human Organs and Tissue Act. HOTTA remains ineffective and law enforcing agencies have failed to take action against the culprits. The case of an Omani woman Salma Suleman who is reported to have died following a renal transplant in Velancia Town in the suburb of Lahore was an example of making a mockery of the law. The law forbids transplant of foreigners from organs donated by Pakistanis and also that they can only be performed in designated centres after due process of evaluation committee and HOTTA. The team which took part in the process was named in several newspapers and apparently an FIR has been registered by the son of the victim. Nevertheless the whole scam has seemed to be hushed up and no meaningful enquiries have provided any desirable outcome. Before this in May 2010, an email was received from Director General Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT) who reported a case of 27 years old Saudi male, Mustafa Salat who received a living unrelated kidney transplant in Pakistan in April 2010 in Rawalpindi. He was brought in emergency of a Saudi Hospital from the airport on April 18, 2010 in a progressively deteriorating condition. The patient came with very little information by the centre performing the transplant in Pakistan and his father informed that his son was discharged prematurely from the hospital. He eventually died in the ICU of severe infection in a week. The HOTTA was fully informed about this case by the president of TSP that they can investigate and hold enquiry into the allegations of breach of any provision of the act but no action was taken, they said The silence of HOTTA and the monitoring authority entrusted with the task of making transplant after two clear violation of transplant legislation is incomprehensible. This non action will only encourage illegal activity to flourish and return Pakistan back to being the centre of transplant tourism and acquire the notorious title of cheapest kidney bazaar in the world, they said.