Project description
The hidden pathways of the illegal organ trade
In a world where organ shortages persist, a dark undercurrent is growing. Desperate patients from wealthy countries travel abroad to buy organs, while vulnerable people in poorer regions, often displaced by conflict or disaster, are exploited, risking lasting harm. Though illegal everywhere, the global organ trade is thriving. The ERC-funded ORGANTRADE project sheds light on this hidden crime. It explores how hospitals, clinics, and other legal businesses might unwittingly or knowingly facilitate and conceal illicit transplants. Through case studies and a mix of criminology, medicine, and ethics, the project challenges the view of organ trade as mere organised crime. Its findings could reshape global efforts to combat this complex human crisis.
Objective
The organ trade is a relatively new but neglected crime that is proliferating globally. The trade is prohibited universally, yet, the growing gap between organ supply and demand has led to an illegal organ market that converges with altruistic organ procurement systems. In this market, growing numbers of desperate patients from the global north travel to the global south to buy organs, often returning with severe medical complications. Similarly, the growing global economic divide and the rise in conflicts and natural disasters are subjecting increasing numbers of vulnerable organ sellers to physical, psychological and financial exploitation on the organ market. Preliminary scholarly work increasingly suggests that this trade is embedded within medical/legal institutions. There is however a critical lack of research and knowledge on how the medical sector, such as hospitals and clinics, and other legal businesses facilitate, conceal and launder illegal transplants. This proposed research aims to understand how, where and why medical/legal businesses facilitate, conceal and launder illegal transplants and assesses the implications for anti-organ trade responses. This project addresses these knowledge gaps through an innovative research program that combines online research, fieldwork and research of the most recently prosecuted cases across the global north and south. It is guided by a unique conceptual framework that combines notions from criminology, transplant medicine and medical ethics. By doing so, this project generates a potentially ground-breaking line of research that radically departs from popular portrayals of the trade as an external organized crime and that advances our understanding of the trade as a socio-medical problem that is nested within medical/legal institutions. Insights will be crucial for scientists, policymakers, transplant societies and law enforcement to develop inventive solutions to prevent and disrupt illegal organ transplants.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3015 GD Rotterdam
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.