Dr. Ashley Baquero President of the Latin American and the Caribbean Society of Transplant (STALYC) made an official visit to Costa Rica and Nicaragua accompanied by Dr. Francis Delmonico Professor of Surgery of The University of Harvard and the Elected President of The Transplantation Society.
Dr. Delmonico is the Executive Director of the Istambul Declaration Group and Dr. Baquero is the General Coordinator of The Aguascalientes Document. Both the Instanbul and Aguascalientes Group unite and work together to avoid Transplant Tourism commercializing.
Costa Rica
The visit to Costa Rica was due to an international company that works in health tourism and had intentions in offering organ transplants to their clients using Costa Rica in this purpose.
Costa Rica has had health tourism for many years receiving 36.000 thousand people last year for medical attention. There is no ethical problem with health Tourism, but in Transplant Tourism there is, because in order to carry out a Transplant, an organ is needed, and in Transplant Tourism cases, this organ is provided by poor vulnerable people of the population, that must be protected.
The aim of this visit was to make changes in the Transplant Law of Costa Rica, to protect the country from the possibility of Transplant Tourism. During the visit Dr. Baquero met with the Authorities of the Health Ministry and the Social Security Cooperation, among them, Dr. Alexis Castillo President of the Medical School and Deputy, Rita Chaves President de la Health Commission of the Legislative Assembly.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the only country of Latin America that doesn't have a transplant law. One year ago there was a case of a patient from the United States of America that received a kidney from a Nicaraguan donor and, unfortunately, both died in the Hospital in Managua due to complications post Transplant.
During the visit to Nicaragua Dr. Baquero met with Dr. Enrique Beteta, General Secretary of the Health Ministry and Deputy Edwin Castro, Chief of the Government's National Assembly Bench. We have great expectations that a Transplant law will be discussed before the Presidential and Legislative Elections in November. The STALYC will be collaborating with the installation of an immunology Laboratory.
.