KAMPALA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has legalized human organ transplants after President Yoweri Museveni signed a bill into law, a government official said Tuesday.
Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng said in a tweet that Museveni assented to the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill, 2023 aimed at regulating the donation of organs, cells and tissues, as well as their transplants.
"The door is now open for Uganda to begin a new chapter of organ transplant. Congratulations, Ugandans!" Aceng said.
The law, the first of its kind in the country, imposes a life sentence for anyone who removes an organ, tissue, or cell from a living donor without consent or authorization and prohibits the sale of organs for financial gain. The law also establishes a legal framework, Uganda Organ and Transplant Council, to oversee and regulate organ and cell donation and transplants in the country.
The law will help many Ugandans who could not afford to go outside of the country for transplant, according to the Ministry of Health. ■