Egypt's lucrative blood plasma black market
Selling the plasma of COVID-19 survivors has become a profitable illegal business, after the minister of health announced that using survivor plasma to treat coronavirus patients has proven effective.
Egyptian member of parliament Amal Rizkallah filed June 10 a motion requesting a briefing from the prime minister and minister of health on the trafficking of plasma of coronavirus survivors to patients at more than $2,000.
Commenting on the sales, Ayman Abul Ela, a member of the parliamentary Health Committee, said June 9 that plasma trafficking is a crime. Abul Ela warned in a statement against exploiting the coronavirus survivors by selling their plasma for the treatment of coronavirus patients.
He noted that trafficking is considered a crime under Sharia law. He explained that what is applicable to organs also applies to human tissue, and that plasma is a tissue whose sale is criminalized under the law governing organ transplantation.
On June 7, Al-Azhar Fatwa Global Center stated that it is against Sharia for a coronavirus survivor to sell his own plasma, taking advantage of the novel virus pandemic. It continued in its statement that an individual is not allowed to take advantage of the suffering of others by selling his blood at a higher price or selling it to a private clinic or via public auction at a higher than usual price.
