PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the Minister of Health to study and allow kidney transplants in Cambodia to be legal. However, he has warned that making this surgical procedure legal surgery does not mean organ trafficking would be permitted.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kosomak Hospital on Monday morning (21 March). He stated that in Cambodia, it has been possible to get a kidney transplant since 2010 at Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, but this information had not yet been widely released to the public. Thus, during the inauguration ceremony, he called on the Minister of Health to declare kidney transplants are legal and possible to get in Cambodia.

The Prime Minister said, "In order to prevent [organ] trafficking between those who trade and those who provide [organs], measures must be taken. [Organ transplants] require the same blood type to [be matched], but if found within family, siblings donate to each other, nephews donate to uncles, or other family members voluntarily donate.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen essentially confirmed that Cambodia has the capacity to perform kidney transplants. Additionally, according to the Minister of Health, the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kosomak Hospital has the capacity to conduct kidney and liver transplant surgeries.

^{PHOTO: EAC NEWS}