KIDNEY ON ICE, Post script in English
00:56
NARRATION
The trade in human organs and other forms of human trafficking from the poorest countries of the world is growing every year. Organ Watch, Berkley University California has estimated that 15 thousand organs are trafficked every year. The sale of organs from impoverished European countries to the rich and privileged globally is perhaps a subject which is too close for comfort. Nothing demonstrates more clearly the increasing gap between the rich and poor within Europe and her direct neighbors, than this booming trade in human misery. Criminal Networks are targeting European countries such as Estonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, where people are lured into selling their kidneys for as little as 3000 dollars.
01:50
MIHAIL: I’ve thought for a while what to do, I didn’t know what, what will happen, after which I’ve thought and, well...I don’t know what else I want to say, but...I thought that I’m not going to die. And, maybe it was of joy, they offered me 3000 Dollars and I’ve never seen that much money in my hand, and because of the joy, I haven’t thought of anything else. Already when I got there, close to the surgery, then I thought about
what and how everything will be.
01:50 MIHAIL:
Un timp m-am gandit ce sa fac, nu stiam ce, ce o sa fie, da pe urma m-am gandit, si deamu... nu stiu ce vreau sa mai zic, dar...m-am gandit, zic ca, la moarte nu ma mai duc. Si, ori de bucurie, mi-au propus 3000 de dolari si nu am vazut atatia bani in mana mea, si de bucurie nu m-am mai gandit nimic. Deamu cand am ajuns acolo, aproape de operatie, deamu atuncea ma gandeam ce o sa fie si cum o sa fie.
02:28
NARRATION
Recent research reveals a trail in illegal organ trafficking leading from Moldova to a variety of countries, where kidneys are sold to Israelis, Arabs and Western Europeans.
02:42
NARRATION
Globally, 1 million die each year of kidney failure. Only 60 thousand receive a kidney transplant.
02:51
NARRATION
People in rich countries, particularly those with legal systems and religious beliefs that prevent easy access to post-mortem donors, will do almost anything for a kidney.
03:03
TIMOTHY STATHAM: In a year period, one expects, in Britain, for there to be almost 2000 operations a year, which gives somebody a new kidney. Sadly, 400 people will also die on that waiting list, waiting for the kidney that they didn’t get. An additional 3000 people will die whilst on dialysis.
03:29
NARRATION
Throughout Moldova, people lack even basic needs due to widespread unemployment and poverty.
03:39
NARRATION
Mihail, who grew up in a typical Moldovan village, was 26 years old when his kidney was removed. He is now 32 years old, living from hand to mouth.
03:50
MIHAIL: a class colleague of mine, with a younger brother Vitalie, I’ve heard that he was in Turkey and gave a kidney and, from one thing to another, I’ve ran into him and he told what he did and offered it to me too. I stood and thought for a while, because I had no money, I thought for a while, and then I’ve decided to go.
03:50 MIHAIL: Un coleg de clasa de-al meu, cu un frate mai mic Vitalie, am auzit ca, iaca a fost in Turcia, si a dat un rinichi, si, din unul in altul, m-am intalnit cu dansul si mi-o spus, iaca ce-o facut, si mi-o propus si mie. Si am stat un timp si m-am gandit, ca n-aveam bani, am stat un timp si m-am gandit, si pe urma am socotit sa plec.
04:19
NARRATION
One day after the operation, he was taken from the surgeon’s private department where he was hidden for a few days. The traffickers collected him and dumped him on a public bus with no pain killers. For 24 hours, his newly operated body was shaken about, causing him terrible pain. The traffickers had not even supplied him with the essential documents to cross the border to return home. So Mihail had to bribe the border police with 500 dollars from the 3000 dollars he had received from the traffickers.
04:54
NARRATION
Without the essential all-round pre-imposed medical treatment with rest and avoidance of hard physical work, people like Mihail often never recover fully from having sold a kidney.
05:06
MIHAIL: Afterwards I came home; I wanted to work on something but I couldn’t. I wanted to take a bucket of water, I couldn’t, it hurt. I tried to do something, I couldn’t. So I sat thinking, I said to myself, everyone is working, but I can’t work. I’m somewhat sorry, but anyway...I didn’t know how, when I went, how it will be, but later...I saw and I’m sorry. But anyway...you couldn’t turn anything around.
05:06
MIHAIL: Dupa aceea, am venit acasa, vroiam sa lucrez ceva si nu puteam. Dadeam sa duc o caldare de apa, nu puteam, ma durea. Dadeam sa fac ceea, nu puteam. Sedeam si ma gandeam, iaca zic, toti lucreaza, dar eu nu pot lucra. Parca imi pare rau, dar deamu...Nu stiam cum, de o data cum m-am dus, cum o sa fie, dar pe urma deamu...am vazut si imi pare rau. Dar deamu...nu puteai intoarce nimic inapoi.
05:31
NARRATION
A medical worker in Minghir, a small town close to the capital, reported that about 36 out of 7000 people have sold a kidney. The real figures are probably higher, as guilt and shame prevent donors contacting medical workers.
05:49
NARRATION
Globally, the demand for fresh, healthy organs is greater than the present legal supply and is increasing every year. Worldwide, the poor are cheated, named and sometimes, murdered, by ruthless organ traffickers.
06:09
NARRATION
People with kidney failure in dialysis are faced with an ethical dilemma. Shall I continue to suffer while waiting for a legal transplant or perhaps even die? Or shall I buy an illegal kidney abroad now?
06:26
MADS: Because the waiting lists are long in Denmark, some people get so desperate, that they choose an alternative. And that is going abroad to buy a kidney.
06:44
NARRATION
32 year old Mads from Denmark is suffering from acute kidney failure. To survive, he must receive dialysis 4 times a week to prevent his body from being poisoned by waste. In his local hospital, there is a special department that trains people with kidney failure to use dialysis machines.
07:04
MADS: You have to go dialysis immediately, to get your blood cleaned and that was from one day to another, more or less, that I started dialysis, so, already from when I was admitted to the hospital, I was a hemo-dialysis patient, which is a thing that the body really has to get used to. So, those first 2 and a half first months where really awful, because my body really wasn’t coping with dialysis very well. It stresses the body very much.
07:40
MADS: And now I’m going to do the worst part of the dialysis, where I have to insert the needles. The first hours or so I’m ok, and then I start getting more and more confused and dizzy and just not very focused, and sometimes I get a headache from it, and sometimes I get a bit nauseous and after the dialysis I’m completely naked, I’m very unfocused, I’m very confused and I really, really just need to get home and not concentrate about anything, just sit on the sofa and watch television, you know...Or something like that. Just not do anything that requires any brain capacity and that’s...that’s how it is.
08:40
NARRATION
Europe’s poorest country, Moldova, has, during the last 10 years, become steadily poor. The average monthly salary is less than 50 dollars.
08:50
NARRATION
25% of the 3, 8 million population have migrated in search of work and a better life.
08:59
NARRATION
Villages across Moldova are de-populating at an alarming rate, leaving behind mainly the old, the sick and children. The remaining are easy targets for kidney traffickers.
09:13
NARRATION
Generations of children are growing up without one or both of their parents. The negative long time impact on the healthy, psychological and social development of these children is massive.
09:28
NARRATION
Andrei is an unskilled Moldovan agriculture worker and a victim of kidney trafficking. 6 years ago, 34 year old Andrei and his wife Angela were trying to scrape a living together for themselves and their children. They lived in one of hundreds of poverty-stricken villages that typify the Moldovan countryside.
09:49
ANDREI: This bread was not given, money was not given. It was hard during the time of the earthquake. The house was all out of clay, falling apart, with no fence. We needed a cow, milk for the kids, I mean everything. A lot are needed for...three children need a lot.
09:49 ANDREI: Painea asta nu se dadea, bani nu se dadeau. Era greu pe vremea cand fu cutremur. Casa era toata din lut, se risipea, gard n-aveai. Trebuia o vaca, o lapte la copil, adica toate. Trebuie multe pentru...la trei copii trebuie mult.
10:09
NARRATION
Angela was approached by a kidney trafficker, who promised her 3000 dollars, a visa, a passport and transport expenses for the kidney to be removed and sold in Turkey. After the documents have been prepared by her trafficker, Angela suddenly discovered she was pregnant with her third child.
10:32
ANDREI: The situation was hard concerning money. I’ve decided to go, and at the beginning of May, they came and told us to prepare our documents; we went and made the documents in May, out of their money. I’ve worked until June 25-26.
10:32 ANDREI: Situatia era grea pe partea banilor. Am hotarat sa plec eu, si la inceputul lui Mai
o venit si ne-a spus sa facem documentele, am fost si am facut documentele in Mai din banii lor. Am mai lucrat pana pe 25-26 iunie.
10:55
NARRATION
After the operation, Andrei returned to Moldova.
11:01
NARRATION
After 2 years, Andrei and Angela faced the same problem which had forced them to sell a kidney in the first place. No work and grinding poverty. Desperate, Angela decided as the last resort to take up work as a housekeeper in Italy, but Angela could not bear to be parted from her children and rang home nearly every day, weekly. After some months in Italy she fell ill and was found to be suffering from multiple brain tumors. Terminally ill, Angela returned home, and, after a few brief months, died.
12:09
NARRATION
Andrei and the three children were devastated. Andrei had to provide now for the family both emotionally and financially, but he could not do both.
12:18
ANDREI: The state gives us 280...288 lei for taking care of the children. And if you don’t work anywhere, you can’t do anything with these 280 lei, because electricity got expensive, everything got expensive nowadays. You have to go to work, whether you want to or not, you have to go. But here there is no work, first of all, work...you work but they don’t pay you. And I went, as it turned out, I went to Moscow.
12:18
ANDREI: De la stat ne da 280...288 de lei primesc pe copii pe intretinere. Si daca nu lucrezi nicaieri, nu faci nimic cu acesti 280 de lei, pentru ca lumina s-o sumpit, tot s-a scumpit amu in ziua de azi. Tre’ sa te mai duci si la lucru, vrei nu vrei, trebuie sa te duci. Dar aici la noi nu-i de lucru, in primul rand...lucru...lucrezi dar nu-ti dau banii. Si am fost, deamu cum, la Mosocova am fost.
12:58
ANDREI: At home, in the village, only the elder who still can are left, and the fields, there is no one to work on them, the shares of land-before everyone wanted land, now no one needs it they all stay the same. There isn’t anymore the same power, it’s not the same, as they say, I actually feel how I get tiresome faster, not like work was before – hard. For three months, from morning from 8 until 8, and sometimes even until 12, 1...i used to work in rain, in snow, in cold and however it was. You changed your clothes and that was it.
12:58
ANDREI: Acasa numai, in sat o ramas numai batranii care mai pot, si pamanturile raman (??), n-are cine le prelucra, cotele-inainte vroiau toti pamant, acum nu-i mai trebuie la nimeni, raman toti asa. Nu-i aceeasi putere, nu-i aceeasi, cum se spune, simt cand intr-adevar obosesti mai repede, nu ca cum era inainte Lucrul – greu. Trei luni de zile , de dimineata de la 8 pana la 8, cum era si cateodata si pana la 12, 1 ...apoi lucram si pe ploaie, si pe ninsoare, si pe frig si cum era. Te schimbai hainele, si tot era.
13:38
ANDREI: Be good and listen, ok? I’ll bring you a bag of sweets, ok? Just like the last time, like I brought you. Ok then. Be good and close the door.
13:38
ANDREI: Sa fiti cuminti si sa ascultati., bun? Am sa va aduc o sumca de asta de dulciuri, bun? Ca data trecuta, cum v-am adus. Vseo, hai. Vseo, hai. Sa fiti cuminti sa inchideti usa.
14:21
NARRATION
13 year old Ian has to do everything in their home, including looking after his brothers who are 9 and 6. Also, when they’re sick. He tries his best, but he is too young to cope with everything and the children, therefore, suffer from neglect and its consequences physically, psychologically and socially.
14:40
IAN: Mom was here, it was good, easier. We had...she comforted us, caressed us, but now what? Now dad is mother and father.
14:40
IAN: Era mama, era mai bine, mai usor. Mai aveam... ne mai alina, ne mai mangaia, dar amu ce? Amu tata-i mama si tata.
14:59
VIOREL CIOBANU: On one hand, the mass migration of citizens has served as a fertile ground for traffickers to commit abuses, and to cheat some citizens under the pretext of employment abroad. Women were usually taken to Western Europe, where they were sexually exploited.
14:59
VIOREL CIOBANU: Pe de o parte, migrarea in masa a cetatenilor a servit si acel teren fertil pentru traficanti pentru a face abuzuri, si, pe unii din cetateni, a-i insela sub pretextul angajarii in campul muncii peste hotare. Femeile de obicei erau duse in Europa de Vest, unde erau exploatate sexual.
15:47
VIOREL CIOBANU: Organ trafficking, again, people were cheated, misled in what the consequences might be after a kidney extraction, because, in most of the case or, at least in the cases discovered by us, the legal entities, there were cases of kidney extraction, although it could have been an extraction of a part of the liver, because they are 2 organs without which a human being can survive.
15:47
VIOREL CIOBANU: Traficul de organe, iarasi, oamenii erau inselati, erau dusi in eroare de faptul care ar fi consecinta in cazul prelevarii unui rinichi, pentru ca, in majoritatea cazurilor, sau cel putin care le-am depistat noi, organele de drept, au fost cazuri de luare de rinichi, cu toate ca ar putea fi si o prelevare din o parte din ficat, pentru ca 2 organe fara de care ar putea un om supravietui. Noi am depistat 2 filiere de trafic de organe. O filiera, cea mai importanta, a fost Turcia si o alta filiera este Germania.
16:21
NARRATIONAnatoli had a kidney removed and sold in Germany. While looking for work, some men offered him a huge sum of money for his kidney.
16:31
ANATOLI: Someone I know from Edinet knew that person, who was dealing with this.
MAN: She offered it to you?
ANATOLI: And she offered it to me. If you want to make a certain sum of money, give your kidney for 10 thousand US Dollars.
16:31
ANATOLI: O cunoscuta din Edinet, cunostea persoana asta, care se ocupa cu asa ceva.
MAN: Ti-a propus tie?
ANATOLI: Si mi-a propus mie. Daca vrei sa faci o suma oarecare de bani, iaca da rinichiul si iei contra 10 mii dolari americani.
16:44
NARRATION
Knowing exactly how to manipulate Anatoli, the traffickers first convinced him he will not feel any different after the operation. They coached him and instructed him, on arrival in Germany, to pretend that the complete stranger receiving his kidney was in fact, his long lost, beloved uncle from Israel.
17:02
ANATOLI: They’ve advised me what to say, what to talk, how to give, who he was, where he was from, all of his relatives that are with him, from children to nephews, i had to know everyone by name.
17:02
ANATOLI: Ei m-au consultat ce trebuie sa spun, ce sa vorbesc, cum trebuie sa dau, cine ii el, de unde ii el, toata nemuraraia lui care sunt la dansu, de la copii pana la nepoti, sa stiu pe toti pe nume.
17:15
GERMAN. Small talk very short…
17 :20
NARRATION
Professor Muhlbacher from Austria was tricked into performing a kidney by the same methods. He operated on a man who said he was giving his kidney to a family member. Years later the true story was revealed.
17:33
FERDINAND MUHLBACHER: We had all the steps, all of the investigations were carried out as usual and they were performing and acting and we just believed them. And they also passed out psychologist, who is very accurate in detecting things like acting and performing.
17:52
ANATOLI: They didn’t believe us. They didn’t believe us, well, it’s not that they didn’t believe us, but he said that we don’t speak the same language, but I spoke Romanian with him. I know Romanian, like every Moldavian, it’s the same. And he said that we didn’t speak the same language, so I didn’t pass the interview.
17:52
ANATOLI: Nu ne-a crezut . Nu ne-a crezut, nu cum nu ne-a crezut, dar a spus ca nu vorbim intr-o limba, dar eu am vorbit romana cu el . Eu romana o stiu, cum e moldovanu, e tot aceeasi. Si a spus ca nu vorbim intr-o limba si nu am trecut convorbirea.
18:08
FERDINAND MUHLBACHER: Years later, 5 years later after the transplantation, when the donor was caught, as he was a small criminal, he stole something in a department store and he was put to jail and they found his car and his flank. It turned out that he was operated in my institution, my friend did the ?? I did the transplant and we were ready, basically, in the ?? ??
So it means we cannot be 100 percent sure that we are not fooled again.
18:43
ANATOLI: We had to go to Romania. From there, from the Germans, to go to Romania.
MAN : To surgery?
ANATOLI: To surgery. And we didn’t go to Romania; we went in Germany, in another city, in Vienna. And there I passed. They asked me the same thing, asked me where I was from, how, who what I to him, what I did, what I had, what I gave him and for what, did I need money, or were we related, or was I feeling sorry for him. And I told them, that I pitied him, that I didn’t need money, that I was full of money. That I had my furniture factory in Romania and I said what I had to say and what I didn’t have to, just to pass. And now I need it.
18:43
ANATOLI: Era vorba sa plecam in Romania. De acolo de la nemti, sa plecam in Romania.
MAN : La operatie?
ANATOLI: La operatie. Si nu ne-am dus in Romania, ne-am dus tot in Germania, in alt oras, in Viena. Si, deamu acolo iar am trecut. M-a intrebat tot aceeasi, m-a intrebat de unde-s, cum, cine-s eu lui, cu ce ma ocup, ce am, ce-i dau pentru ce ii dau, am nevoie de bani, ori santem rude, ori mi-i jale. Si le-am spus tot, ca ii de jale, ca nu-mi trebuie bani, ca-s plin de bani. Ca am fabrica in Romania, am fabrica mea de mobila si am spus si eu ce trebuie si ce nu trebuie, numai sa trec. Si acuma imi trebuie.
19:35
NARRATION
Like Mads, Anja is also in dialysis. Together, they decided to make a home page, providing counseling for patients with kidney failure.
19:45
ANJA: My disease started when I was 5 years old and I think it was a bit before, there was symptoms before, I can see that now. And then I was hospitalized and they couldn’t really figure out what was wrong with me. And that was actually my whole childhood, there was hospitalization, and then just school and being at home, and I just remember being more tired than other children and I was playing with my friends and stuff, but I was tired a lot and my blood pressure was high. I began dialysis when I was 12.
23:24
ANJA: I chose to get my dialysis machine home, because it saves me so much time and I have more control over my own life, I don’t have to leave suddenly, I can stay with friends and do my dialysis when I get home or in the nighttime, or...yeah, I can choose for myself.
20:47
ANJA: Being in dialysis its like a vacuum in your head, so you don’t really function as well, you don’t...you can’t remember stuff and, if you have to explain stuff, it’s difficult because you can’t find the words and you forget and sometimes you are sick, entirely sick. I feel so bad. Sometimes you can’t see, like, I only see in a tunnel like a tunnel vision, so and everything else is vibrating and that’s not good at all.
21:19
FERDINAND MUHLBACHER: If you put it in numbers, there are many data available. The people who are dialyzed versus transplantation that their life expectancy with transplants are much longer than one dialysis, so I think there is not a single doctor in the world who would propose that dialysis is better than transplantation. The personal effect of being on dialysis is very different. About 10 percent of people who are on dialysis who have a very nice life, who do not suffer, who are able to work, who are able to compensate , who are able to cope with all these issues. But I would say that there are some 10 percent on dialysis almost close to suicide and the gap between 80 percent suffer more or less. In fact, the experience with those people who decided to go on a transplantation waiting list, they all feel a big big relieve when they come to transplantation.
22:22
NARRATION
In the northern part of Moldova, a special prison has been built to house policemen, lawyers, judges, etc. Marin, a former policemen convicted of organ trafficking, is serving his ten year sentence there. Marin’s son was seriously ill and required a liver transplant to survive.
22:42
MARIN: Running around and looking for this money, I ran into these people that were dealing with organ trafficking. And they offered me, yes, there is a way to make money.
22:42
MARIN: Umbland si cautand acesti bani, am dat peste acesti oameni care se ocupa cu traficarea organelor. Si ei mi-au propus, da, iaca este asa un caz ca se poate de facut bani.
23:00
NARRATION
With no cash in hand, he was tempted to work with a trafficking network and made a deal with them to sell his own kidney in exchange for a liver transplant for his son.
23:10
MARIN: During about 2 days they did my medical analysis and the transplant was made in one week.
23:10
MARIN: Undeva in timp de doua zile mi-au facut analizele medicale si in timp de o saptamana de zile a fost facut transplantul.
23:23
ALINA RADU: Was the surgery at night or during the day?
23:23
ALINA RADU: Operatia a fost noaptea sau ziua?
23:25
MARIN: No, I don’t know why, but only at night. There were about 6 people, the surgery was done during the night. There was from Ukraine, from Africa there was someone there, but I couldn’t communicate with them. I didn’t know anyone.
23:25
MARIN: Nu, nu stiu de ce, dar numai noaptea. Erau undeva vreo sase oameni, noaptea asta a fost facuta operatia. Din Ucraina era, de la noi din Moldova, din Africa era si mai erau cineva acolo, dar eu n-am putut contacta cu ei. Nu cunosteam nimeni.
23:42
NARRATION
Shortly after his operation, he returned to Moldova and then traveled immediately back to Istanbul.
23:49
ALINA RADU: How old was the baby?
23:49 ALINA RADU: Copilasul cat avea?
23:51
MARIN: Ahmm…one year
23:51 MARIN: Aaa...un an de zile.
23:55
MARIN: Well yes, he did, because the baby died. The baby died. I was left handicapped, without a kidney, the baby died.
23:55 MARIN: Pai da, a avut, pentru ca copilul a murit. Copilul a murit. Eu am ramas invalid, fara rinichi, copilul a murit.
24:04
ALINA RADU: The baby died...
24:04 ALINA RADU: Copilul a murit...
24:05
MARIN: Yes, the baby died, yes, he didn’t make it after the surgery.
24:05 MARIN: Da, copilul a murit, da, dupa operatie n-a rezistat.
24:09
NARRATION
On returning home, Marin then decided to contact the criminal network. He consequently became involved in the trafficking ring, which resulted in the conviction he is now serving.
24:21
NARRATION
The headquarters of the Moldovan Center to Combat Trafficking was set up three years ago in Chisinau. They have been well provided for financially by extensive funding from the USA and the European Common Market. In June 2008, an independent inquiry set up in Moldova, revealed that nearly half of the staff was corrupt. Many were involved in cover-ups, suppressing evidence that would have resulted in convictions of key members of the criminal network. 50 percent of the staff have since been dismissed.
24:56
TIMOHTY STATHAM: The National Kidney Federation regards the trade in organs as a trade in human misery, both for the person who needs the organ and the person who is selling the organ, probably because of poverty, serious poverty. We don’t believe in the Federation, that a patient, who is driven by desperation, to try and get an organ in that way to save their own life should be guilty of an offense. We don’t believe that they are guilty of an offense if they pursue that root, but we do think that the people who are making money out of it and organizing those roots, they need to be guilty of an offense.
25:47
MADS: One of the first symptoms I had was about two years ago in March 2006, where I began to have an ear ache. I was visiting my girlfriend in London, and when I landed, I had an ear ache and I thought it was from the plane ride, but then it got worse and I started throwing up, I started getting extremely restless and I couldn’t sleep for almost a week and then, after about a week and a half, I got admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with acute kidney failure. And that was how it all started.
26:37
MADS: I thought my life was completely ruined, at first, and I was really, really scared about everything - work and how would I be as a person and how would I get through my every day life and so on.
26:58
MADS: I’m 32 years old and I’m definitely thinking about having children, but it just...I just think it would be too much for me to overcome, to have the responsibility of a child and that, so and I don’t think I should have a child, as it is right now, and that creates quite a bit of problems in a ...in our relationship, of course, and that’s where we are right now and we’re trying to work that one out. Or we could get very lucky if I get a kidney, I just might have the energy take it on and there would be no problems, would there?
27:52
NARRATION
Anja is now in the hospital waiting for a transplant. It’s the fifth time she is going to receive a transplant.
27:58
ANJA: The last kidney that I found out that it was a man who was 40 years old and imagined that he might have a family and maybe children. And then...it was automobile accident and it was...when you are 40 years old, it’s pointless to die in such a young age, especially if you have a family or no matter what, but it felt like he did...he made a good choice and he didn’t only help me, I was in ?? at the time and I took the plane together with the man who was going to have the liver and he was so sick, really so sick, I couldn’t ...he couldn’t speak to me because he was so polluted because of the very bad liver; and he was going to get the liver. So, to know that...that he and his family had decided that they wanted to help people, even though they were very sad and had lost someone...that’s a nice gesture.
29:15
NARRATION
The new kidney has just arrived from Sweden and everything is in the process of being prepared. The moment that Anja has been waiting for has finally arrived.
29:43
NARRATION
The donor kidney is removed from its container and the surgeons prepare to place it inside the abdominal cavity.
29:57
NARRATION
Next, the interlacing vein and artery from the drafted kidney are skillfully connected up to the blood vessels in the leg.
30:10
NARRATION
This is the critical moment. The surgeon waits in suspense, watching to see how the newly transplanted kidney will respond. The blood begins to flow through the kidney
30:36
ANJA: It’s working very well. I peed on the operation table and that is not normally especially when you have been waiting for so long 23 hours from Sweden till here. So, when it’s been out of the body for so long, it doesn’t really ...usually it doesn’t begin immediately because it’s...it’s...it had a shock of some sort when it’s outside of the body
31:08
MADS: And now? It’s still working now, no complications?
31:10
ANJA: No, other then they’ve...they’ve cut my...my belly open, like this, up here and ...so they cut some of the muscles for...my...to be able to breathe so, it’s a bit difficult for me to breathe. It is like squashes in my lungs, so I can’t breathe. And that’s not very pleasant.
31:40
MADS: Ok. But are you happy?
31:43
ANJA: I’m happy. Don’t I look happy?
31:54
MADS: All this really has got my thought going, cause...cause usually, in my everyday life I...I kind of try not to think about it, because it might be what? 10-13 years if I’m unlucky, so it won’t do me any good to walk around thinking about it every day. So, I usually try and postpone it...but now, with Anja and everything and this, that everything turned out well and it really...really got me thinking and thinking that everything just might be alright and I am, I am hoping that it will be me.
32:39
ANJA: Hi.
32:43
ANJA: I got a kidney so now I don’t need my dialysis machine anymore. So now they are coming to get it, so I can get my room back and it’s a bit weird, a weird feeling, yet nice.
33:00
ANJA: It’s kind of being reborn, because you...you have a lot of more energy and you, like I’m able to bike back and forth to the hospital now and before I was...I was so tired and I was sweating and I was...yeah. So it’s like the small things- I can see my hair is growing faster and my nails are growing. Being able to speak without not having the words and you get frustrated when you don’t have the words and now it’s just so much easier. You feel more intelligent, actually.
33:32
MAN: Bye!
33:40
ANJA: Yeah. Bye!
33:48
MADS: I’m not too optimistic about getting a kidney transplant in Denmark, cause, in relation to, for example, Austria and Spain, we’re not really as efficient as they are.
34:09
MADS: Why it’s different in the different countries? Why are the waiting lists fairly long in Denmark and why are they doing better in other countries? And why is there we don’t have presumed consent in Denmark as they have in Austria, for example?
34:30
NARRATION
In Austria, out of 8 million people the rate of organ donations is 25 per million inhabitants, one of the highest rates in Europe.
34:39
FERDINAND MUHLBACHER: Austria is a presumed consent regulation, which says: everyone is presumed to be in agreement with organ donation after the death, unless he or she has signed a document during lifetime that he objects. I personally feel that this is also a very good regulation as far as the burden for the relatives, because in the situation of organ donation, we do not have to put another burden to the shoulders of the relatives. They have...they suffer a lot with the fact that their next of kind has died and to also put the burden of the decision, which they finally have to sign, is also another burden because, you know, they don’t really know what the deceased might have thought about organ donation. If we inform and we tell them that the legal situation is in favor of organ donation, they are not challenged to make another decision.
35:49
NARRATION
In Romania, out of 23 million people, the rate of organ donations is only 1 per million inhabitants.
35:57
IRINEL POPESCU: The causes why the numbers are low is actually the number, the total number of refers to the National Agency of Transplantation and not the rate of consent of the population. The rate of consent it’s more than 50 percent, it’s close to 60 percent actually, which is a good one compared to European verge, but the number of refers is low and that reflects again, I think, the current situation of the whole health care system in Romania, of the infrastructure, of the technical possibilities at the level of county hospitals and so on.
36:51
NARRATION
In Denmark, out of 5 million people, the rate of organ donations is 11 organ donations per million inhabitants.
36:59
SØREN SCHWARTZ: The reason that Denmark has such a bad position can be seen in several ways. First of all, we know that we do not find all potential organ donors and that’s probably not where we loose most of the donors. It seems as the fact that 50 percent of the relatives that are asked if the deceased could be a donor, actually says no. Compared to that we have a figure, a number in Spain that’s about 15 percent.
37:49
NARRATION
In Spain, there is a population of 40 million people and the rate of donations is 34 per million inhabitants, which is the highest rate in Europe. The average donor rate in Europe is 16.
38:01
RAFAEL MATESANZ ACEDOS: What are the reasons why we, Spain has so high organ donor rate, I think there is a key word is organization. We have a national network of transplant coordinators, who are highly motivated doctors, who are very well trained in how to detect potential donor, how to speak to the family, how to make the family approach and, at the end, this network is working in all the Spanish hospital, not just the biggest one, but also the small one.
38:55
NARRATION
A few years ago, in a small village on the outskirts of Madrid a family was struck by tragedy when their 20 year old son was killed in a traffic accident.
39:06
NARRATION
In the intensive care department, frustrated with grief, the boy’s family decided to allow their son’s organs to be legally harvested by a waiting team of surgeons.
39:17
ANTONIO: After my son’s organ donation, the time and the years that have passed have shown us that we made a humanitarian work that we are very proud of. I know that my son is now in another body, that is moving round the streets, alive and happy.
In other words, there are some people whom with all their suffering now can function, thanks to a donation. Excuse me, I so quickly get emotional, I just can’t help it.
39:17 ANTONIO :Despues de la donación de mi hijo, al trancurso del tiempo y los años nos hemos mostrado de que hemos facilitados una labor muy humana entonces, y estamos muy orgullosos de lo que hicimos , yo se que mi hijo esta en otro cuerpo que circulan por las calles, que viva que disfruta,en una palabra que son personas que todos los padecimientos que tuvo gracias a una donacion, se pudo hacer, perdona pero es que me emociono muy rapido y no puedo evitarlo
40:06
NARRATION
2 years after the accident, Antonio’s other son, Francisco, became critically ill and suffered liver failure. He only survived because he was given a liver transplant.
40:57
FRANCISCO: I was in a situation where I was nearly dying. I had internal hemorrhaging, I was bleeding out of the mouth, nose, ears and I could not eat food or proteins, I was nearly terminal. I was very bad and thanks to other people that like I and my parents, because of the accident and a brain death, so they were enriched with that as goes from body to body. It is the most important for us in this world, to give life, as I also have said earlier.
40:57
FRANCISCO : Yo estaba en una situacíon practicamente de cualqier cosa me hubiera causado ya la muerte Tenía hemorragias internas, sangrado por la boca por la nariz, oidos, ya no asimilaba los alimentos, las proteinas, pues es que estava practicamente terminal , estaba bastante mal, y gracias a que otros, persona, como yo y mis padres anterioriamente debido a un accidente o a una muerte cerebral, me he beneficiado yo tambien eso, se va dando vida de cuerpo a cuerpo,es lo mas importante, es para lo que es ,para lo que estamos en este mundo ,para dar vidas, como he dicho antes.
41:51
ANTONIO: I repeat again that if I in that period had said no,now, here when my son needs an organ,what would I have thought.
Now yes it comes to help and I want people to agree themselves and understand that in particular, the close family can do a good thing for humanity, for the dead cannot do anything. Organ donation is good for everyone.
41:51
ANTONIO: si yo en esa época repito, hubiese dicho que no , ahora al neccesitar mi hijo un organo que hubiese podido pensar yo, Ahora si, acudes y yo por eso quiero , me gustraría que la gente se mentalisara y viera sobre todo los familiares porque ya el difunto poco puede hacer, ya la persona poco puede hacer , es un bien que les hacen a la humanidad , la donacion de organo es una de las cosas mejores que hay ahora ..
41:42
RAFAEL MATESANZ ACEDOS: The cost of a patient analysis in the European Union is estimated to be about 50 thousand Euros per year. Thanks to our program, our model of organization, the money that we have saved since the start of the ONT is practically double of what the cost of all the transplant of kidney, liver, heart, lung and all the transplant that we perform every year. So, to develop a system like the Spanish one is not really expensive, because just with the money that we save with renal transplantation, we can practically pay the whole cost of all transplantation, so renal transplantation is more efficient with respect to survival, or respect to quality of life, but also with respect to the cost of treatment of renal failure.
42:50
NARRATION
In the United Kingdom, out of 60 million people, the rate of organ donations is 12 per million inhabitants.
42:57
TIMOTHY STATHAM: There are not enough transplant agents, there are not enough intensive care beds, there are not enough organ transplant coordinators in the hospital. There is a complete lack of transplant culture in Britain, so what we did is we got all of the experts that we could identify, together in to one room inside Parliament and got them to discuss all of the issues that were preventing transplants taking place. At the end of that day, we had a whole list of things that need to be altered in Britain. Suddenly they understand that transplantation is a cheaper form of treatment than dialysis and, whenever you talk to a politician about saving money, you suddenly have a friend. So we do now have a friending government, we do find that they want transplantation and so progress has suddenly speeded up and we the promise of and increase in transplants by 50 percent over the next five year period. And we, the NKF, are determined that it’s not just going to go there, that we need to change the system of donation to a system of presumed content in Britain, to ensure that we can actually wipe out forever the transplant waiting list.
44:33
NARRATION
In Moldova, there is a population of 3,8 million people and the rate of donation is 0. There is no waiting list, because the Moldovan public service has no resources to pay for organ transplants.
44:50
NARRATION
Ludmila and her two daughters, Nicoleta and Irina, live 200 km outside the capital of Chisinau. Ludmila suffers from kidney failure, but in order to try to make ends meet, for years has been forced to take on hard physical work, which drains all her resources, both physically and mentally.
45:12
NARRATION
With no warning, two moths ago, Nicoleta was diagnosed with acute kidney failure. So now both mother and daughter have to receive dialysis twice a week.
45:22
LUDMILA: We get up at 4 in the morning, it is very tiresome, I can’t get her up because she is very little. And I ask her many times: “wake up, wake up”, and sometimes I have to force her to wake up, just to go to dialysis, not to miss the dialysis and then feel bad, so that I wouldn’t have problems with her later at home. And we go to the bus stop, don’t eat anything in the morning, we go out like this and go to Chisinau.
45:22 LUDMILA: Ne sculam la ora 4 dimineata, tare ii obositor, nu o pot scula pe dansa care-i foarte mica. Si o rog de cate ori: “scoala, scoala”, si uneori si cu forta o scol ca sa mearga numai la dilalize, sa nu treaca dializa si sa nu-i fie rau si sa nu am probleme pe urma cu dansa acasa. Si mergem la oprire, nu mancam dimineata nimic, iesim asa si ne ducem la Chisinau.
45:53
NARRATION
Transport expenses are so high to the hospital, that the neighbors in their village try to help out. However there are times when there’s simply just no cash to get there.
46:04
NARRATION
Unable to receive dialysis, Ludmila begins to deteriorate fast, as poisonous waste products accumulate and her body begins to swell.
46:26
LUDMILA: Sometimes I feel bad when I do the dialysis, sometimes we feel very well, but in most of the cases it happens that we feel bad. We don’t eat anything until we come home. We don’t have this money, to buy food, so we come home, we come home and barely get home, we don’t even eat.
46:26
LUDMILA: Uneori mii rau cand stau la dializa, uneori ne simtim foarte bine, dar in orice caz, de mai mult ori se intampla ca tii rau. Nu mancam nimic pana ce venim acasa. Nu avem banii astia, ca sa cumparam ?? si venim, venim acasa si ajungem acasa ca vai de noi, nici nu mancam, asa si ??
47:06
NARRATION
19 year old Alina has been in dialysis for 3 years.
47:11
ALINA: I stay here from Tuesday until, well, Friday, because I can’t. There is no bus from the village, first of all this is bad. Dad brings me from Sarata, that is, I come on Monday evening. He has to pay 50 lei for the car to bring me from Sarata and when he comes to get me on Friday, again 50 lei, and he gives me money to have here, and we cant, rather than him taking me and bringing me on, say, Tuesday morning – 50 lei, taking me back home on Tuesday evening – 50 lei. Thursday evening to bring me – again 50 leis and Friday again 50. It doesn’t work out.
47:11
ALINA: Stau aici de Marti, cum, pana Vineri deamu, ca nu pot. Noi nu avem autobuz din sat, in pimul rand asta e rau. Tata ma aduce de la Sarata, cum vin de Luni seara. Pe masina trebuia sa plateasca 50 de lei ca sa ma aduca la Sarata si cand ma intalneste Vineri, iara 50 de lei, si cu mine bani aici cat imi si nu putem, decat sa ma duc sa ma aduca Marti, sa zicem, de dimineata-50 de lei lei; sa ma duc seara Marti acasa-iara 50 de lei. Joi seara sa ma duc- iara 50 si Vineri iara 50. Nu iese.
47:43
NARRATION
Despite the fact that Alina lives almost full time at the hospital, she is still only allocated dialysis twice a week. The minimum of three to four times a week is recommended for her condition.
47:55
ALINA: This one time, I did the dialysis until the end, my blood pressure dropped and they took it off before time ran out, and I had left 1 liter and 400. My belly got bigger and they can’t take it off since. Everything here is full of water, because I passed the ultrasound and they saw that it’s liquid. If they would do this 3 times, the water will come out, they would take it out, but they say there are no spots, because there are many of us and there aren’t enough spots to do it three times.
47:55
ALINA: Am stat odata la dializa la urma, mi-a scazut tensiunea si m-au scos mai inainte de timp si mi-a ramas 1 litru 400 ?? si mi-a crescut burta si de atunci nu poate sa-mi deie jos. Tot aici e plin cu apa, ca am trecut UZI si au vazut si au spus ca e lichid. Ca daca m-ar pune de trei ori, ar iesi toata apa, mi-ar scoate-o, dar spune ca nu au locuri ca suntem multi si nu-s locuri sa te pui de trei ori.
48:26
NARRATION
In Moldova, it is against the law to transplant organs from dead or brain dead people. Transplants are only permitted between close relatives.
48:39
NARRATION
In 2007 two people received a transplant from a close relative and the operations occurred in Romania and Italy.
48:48
LUDMILA: There is no solution to have a transplant done. We don’t have, there is no one to help us with that kind of money.
48:48 LUDMILA: Nu-i iesire din situatie ca sa ne facem transplant. Nu avem, n-are cine ne ajuta cu asa bani.
48:56
ALINA: The transplant is the only way out, but it’s not possible.
48 :56 ALINA: Transplantul numai e unica scapare, doar ca nu-i posibil.
49:02
NARRATION
Throughout the world, there are thousand of people dying slowly on dialysis and these numbers are, unfortunately, growing.
49:11
NARRATION
Are we prepared to learn and be inspired by countries like Spain and Austria, that have successfully increased their organ donor rate by both dynamic methods and changes in the law.
49:23
NARRATION
Radical action taken by many countries would result in the availability of more organs, which could be harvested legally from brain dead patients.
49:35
NARRATION
Globally, this would immediately have a profound impact on the number of available organs. In 2008, the legal supply simply does not meet the demand; and, therefore, there is a steady and increasing flow of living donor organs from the poor to the rich.
49:57
NARRATION
Are we going to stand by and allow organ trafficking to flourish? Are we going to passively allow those people who, either cannot afford to buy on the black market or have and unshakeable moral and ethical value to suffer and die? As the time comes to bring this issue out into the open, wake up the politicians, the general public to take actions.