DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Selling Kidneys

DEVELOPMENT REPORT -October 14, 2002: Selling Kidneys

By Jill Moss¹

Urinary tract²
(Image - www.4women.gov)
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Kidneys are important organs in the human body. Under normal conditions,
the body can perform with just one kidney, even though most people are
born with two. Many people develop kidney disease and their kidneys do not
operate normally. Some of these people are able to get a new kidney in a
transplant operation. However, many countries do not have enough kidneys
for transplantation.

In developing countries, some poor people sell their kidneys to earn money
and improve their living conditions. Researchers say this is becoming a
problem. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association
reports that people who sold a kidney suffered financial and health problems
over time.

Doctors carried out the study last year in southern India. Madhav (MA-thev) Goyal of the Geisinger Health
System in State College, Pennsylvania headed the study. He wanted to learn the economic and health effects of
selling a kidney. The researchers questioned about three-hundred poor people in the city of Chennai (chen-
NIGH). Each person had sold his or her kidney about six years earlier for about one-thousand dollars.

Almost all of the people sold their kidneys to pay back money they owed. However, six years later, seventy-five
percent of the people said they were still in debt. The average family earnings³ had dropped by one-third
following the operation.

Also, eighty-six percent of the people said their health had worsened since the operation. Doctor Goyal says one
possible reason for this is that most of the people had to continue physically⁴ difficult work immediately after their
operations. This probably weakened their health.

The researchers said almost seventy-five percent of the kidney donors⁵ were women. Doctor Goyal says this is
troubling because women in India may be pressured to sell their organs more than men. Finally, the researchers
found that almost eighty percent of the people would not suggest that others sell a kidney for money.

Most countries, including India, have laws against buying and selling organs from living donors. But in India
officials at hospitals often fail to enforce the laws. Doctor Goyal says policy makers⁶ should re-examine the value
of using money to increase the supply of organs for transplantation.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.

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1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》