By Richard Bhainie

IN pursuit of enacting legislation to govern the transplant of human tissues, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C. on Wednesday met with members of the Guyana Medical Council and other key officials.

Dr. Kishore Persaud, Head of Department, Multi-Organ Transplant and Vascular Access Surgery, and his team from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, were also present, a press release from the Ministry of Legal Affairs noted.

The meeting was held to discuss the topic of human-tissue transplant, which would effectively allow for the transplanting of organs to the body of another living person and the ethical issues relating to the matter and any other matter that may arise regarding the said subject.

Currently, Guyana is lacking legislation governing, authorising and regulating the donation of human tissue and organs to persons who meet the criteria of either being a donor or recipient of such donation.

The legislation also is imperative in order to protect citizens of Guyana from being victims of human trafficking for human organs and tissues, something which the legislation will address.

In those respects, expected to emanate from the legislation are offences and penalties to monitor the trade in human tissues, organs and blood.

“A consultative approach has been agreed upon which will include consultative engagements involving all stakeholders and associations and their collective input will be channelled into the legislation and ensuing regulations,” the press release stated.

The Attorney General has indicated that the bill pertaining to the subject matter shall be ready for Parliament on or before May 2021.