China, India, Pakistan Top List of Kidney Suppliers

Recently, the entire world celebrated World Kidney Day under the title of "Kidneys Can Be Saved by Controlling Diabetes". China, India and Pakistan are on the top of the list of the countries where kidneys are sold; while, the United States, the United Kingdom and France are the major buyers. In some villages of the countries, 40 to 50 percent of the people are living on one kidney.

Blood Pressure-Related Diseases
According to the statistics obtained from a source, more than five percent of the adult population (about 400 million) is suffering from kidney diseases while more than 1 billion people are suffering from diseases relating to blood pressure. After diabetes, blood pressure is the second major cause of failure of kidneys.

Some 20.25 million people are suffering from kidney diseases in our country; while, some15,000 to 20,000 are falling prey to these diseases every year. On an average, there is one kidney specialist for a population of 2 million. As a result, most of the patients are deprived of diagnosis. In rural areas, in particular, the lack of doctors is resulting in increase in the disease.

WHO Report
According to World Health Organization (WHO) report, Pakistan is one of the countries where kidneys are sold. Pakistan is number three in the world in this regard, with China being number one and India, number two. On an average, a person sells one of his kidneys for only $1,000. Circumstances sometimes force people to sell their kidney for just a few hundred dollars. The broker, on the other hand, receives $2500 for their kidney. According to WHO report, as a result of this situation, in some of the villages in our country, 40 to 50 percent people are living on one kidney.

The United States is on top of the list of buyers of kidneys; while, the United Kingdom is second and France, third. Despite the ban on kidney trade at international level, kidneys are bought and sold. According to WHO, five percent of the 70,000 kidneys transplanted every years are obtained illegally.

Major Cause of Failure
According to medical experts, kidneys purify the blood. Even if the kidneys are performing 25 percent of their function, a man can live; however, if the kidneys fail, one has to resort to dialysis and transplant. With the help of dialysis, a man can survive for seven years; while, with the help of transplant, he can survive for 14 years.

The kidney diseases generally attack at the age of 30 to 40 years. However, because of a rise in diabetes and blood pressure-related diseases, even children and aged ones have now started to catch this disease.

Women, too, are prone to failure of kidneys because of shortage of blood during delivery. According to experts, different pain-killers are also a cause of kidney diseases. During the last few years, diabetes has been the major cause of failure of kidneys. Some 246 million people of the world are victim to diabetes. If this disease is not controlled, by 2025, the number of victims of this disease is likely to rise to more than 380 million.