Current Trends in Organ Transplant Trafficking

The aim of this project was to identify current trends in organ transplant trafficking to build upon a Mayo Clinic internship in which I conducted research and published an article: “A Scoping Review of Labor and Organ Trafficking Resources for U.S. Healthcare Professionals” in the Journal of Human Trafficking. Healthcare professionals need to be educated on the underreported problem of organ trafficking in the United States and awareness needs to be spread. Due to the lack of research available in the United States on organ trafficking for healthcare professionals, I attempted to find international sources and to make suggestions on how awareness can be created. The research pointed out problems in the United States, such as doctor-patient confidently that make it difficult to track the issue. A major theme was discovered on transplant tourism, which is where wealthy individuals from the U.S. and other developed countries travel to third-world countries to take advantage of vulnerable individuals, who may be victims of organ trafficking.