Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday signed a bill into law that legalizes human organ transplants, reported Reuters.
The move was confirmed by Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng who noted in a tweet that Museveni had signed the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill, 2023 which will regulate the donation of organs, cells and tissues, and their transplants.
“The door is now open for Uganda to begin a new chapter of organ transplant. Congratulations, Ugandans!” the Ugandan health minister said.
In recent years, there have been several local reports that claim that women recruited for domestic work in the Middle East were being duped into medical operations, following which their kidneys are sold in worldwide trafficking rings.
The new law imposes a life sentence for people who fraudulently remove an organ, tissue, or cell from a living donor without his consent. The law bars the sale of organs for any kind of financial gain. It also establishes the Uganda Organ and Transplant Council which will oversee and regulate organ and cell donation and transplants.
The Ministry of Health says it expects the law will help many Ugandans who could not afford to go outside of the country for transplant.
The signing of the bill comes just a day after Museveni and his government garnered massive global condemnation for approving one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation.
The controversial anti-LGBTQ law imposes the death penalty for anyone found to be involved in aggravated homosexuality, which includes having gay sex when HIV-positive. It also imposes up to 20 years of jail sentence for promoting homosexuality.
The law requires the people of Ugandan to report any form of homosexual abuse involving children or other vulnerable people to the concerned authorities.
Ugandan President Museveni had previously sent the original bill back to lawmakers to tone down certain provisions. The parliament passed the amended bill earlier this month.
