The report said that the authorities are probing an organ sale gang which had conducted 500 transplants in India.

It appears that poor labourers sell their kidneys to wealthy clients. A Singaporean friend of mine went to India to get an organ transplant because there was no 'waiting for a donor' and it was not even cheap. He returned home after the transplant, only to die two weeks later of kidney failure.

The Indian Health Minister, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, is calling for a national organ transplant programme as it would reduce demand for illegal operations. At present, only close relatives are allowed to donate organs, after clearance by a government appointed committee.

In Singapore, we have in place the 'opt out/opt in' system. The National Kidney Foundation is doing a fine job for kidney patients. But it is time for healthy Singaporeans to come forward to donate one of their kidneys to those who need it. I know of a kidney patient who had a kidney transplant about 20 years ago, and when I last met him in 1997, he was lively and active.

Yes, Singaporeans are pretty impatient. They are not willing to wait for a donor kidney. So, they go overseas to seek and get a kidney transplant. I think this is foolhardy.

Retnam Thillainathan