"The incidents of kidney selling by the poor are on the rise. Patients from certain developed countries visit Pakistan to buy organs for transplantation at local kidney centres," reveals an official summary of the Health Ministry submitted to the Cabinet.

Pakistan’s Senate Standing Body on Health was told that foreigners with kidney ailments are lured by "transplant tourism" come to Pakistan to buy kidneys from the poor for about C$2,500 with the help of local agents working in private hospitals in Rawalpindi.

The Cabinet met with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to consider new laws to curb the practice.

Among those impacted by the proposed law, will be the Calgary-based Overseas Medical Services, which arranges a speedy kidney donation and transplant surgery through Lahore-based Aadil Hospital --for US$32,000 (C$35,605).

Aruna Thurairajan, a former Sri Lankan medical administrator who owns the company, said that liver, pancreas and lung transplants are also available.

At least two people from B.C. are among 10 Canadians who have made enquiries with the company, which gets a 10 percent commission from the hospital.

About a dozen Americans have also contacted Overseas Medical Services about purchasing a kidney.

The company argued there is nothing unethical about the practice.

Companies like Overseas Medical Services stand to cash in on the organ trade because of the long waiting lists in North America.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, about 4,000 Canadians are queuing for organs, but several hundred will likely die yearly while on the list; 242 patients died while waiting in 2004. In Canada only 1,795 patients received organ transplants in 2003.

Ken Donahue, communications manager for the British Columbia Transplant Society said buying and selling of organs is illegal in Canada.

"But the laws are different in other countries…Our laws do not prevent people from travelling to other countries to get transplants," he told The Asian Pacific Post.

Donahue said there are a lot of ethical and social concerns related to the Calgary operation.

Pauline Buck, communications manager for the BC Branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada agreed. "It can lead to people, particularly those in the Third World, of being taken advantage of for their organs," she said.

Pakistan is not the only country that is coping with the legal and ethical implications of organ sales. China recently imposed laws to control the sale of body parts while in the Philippines, foreign buyers are known to pay as little as C$2,000 for a kidney.

In one case, a man sold his kidney for a karaoke machine.

The Indian state of Punjab is another hotbed for the sale of body parts.

Three years ago, the officials dismantled a group of doctors, lawyers, middlemen and politicians of operating a $35 million racket in the illegal sale of kidneys in northern India.

Investigators found that at least 24 donors had died because of a lack of proper care after organs were taken.

This month, members of the same gang, who operated in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar have resurfaced in Jalandhar.

Reports said a key member of the gang, who was out on bail, has built another network in Jalandhar, allegedly in connivance with the same group of doctors, who are facing trial in Amritsar.

Laborers especially from the neighboring poverty stricken states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are lured by middlemen to sell their kidney for about C$350 while the recipients are charged up to C$2,500.