The 17th Meeting of the Ibero-American Network/Council of Donation and Transplantation (RCIDT), by the Argentine Coordinating Institute for Organ Transplantation (INCUCAI in the Spanish acronym), was held at the Palacio San Martín from 31 August to 1 September.
The opening event was attended by the Undersecretary for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Lila Roldán Vázquez; the Secretary for Policies, Regulation and Health Sector Institutes of the Ministry of Health, Raúl Alejandro Ramos; the Director of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Msgr. Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo; the President of the Network, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, and the Director of INCUCAI, María del Carmen Bacqué, as well as by representatives of international health organizations and donation and transplantation organizations from Ibero-American countries.
Upon welcoming participants, Undersecretary Roldán Vázquez underscored Argentina's commitment to the activities and goals of the Network and the importance of working in Latin America to obtain concrete benefits for citizens.
The Network channels the development of cooperation mechanisms among Ibero-American countries on legislation, professional training, and ethical and social aspects related to organ donation and transplantation. Argentina has been deeply committed to the Network since its creation in 2005 and values the importance this topic has been given on the health agendas of the Network's 21 member countries as highly positive.
This has been reflected in the different addresses delivered at the event. Participants underscored the work, history and international recognition of INCUCAI, which was selected this year by the Pan American Health Organization as the world's third Centre and Latin America's first Centre in donation and transplantation cooperation.
Monsignor Sánchez Sorondo underscored Pope Francis's interest in this area, remarking that at the Judges' Summit on Human Trafficking in June 2016 Pope Francis stated that organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal are "true crimes against humanity" and mostly affect poor children, who are hostages to transplant tourism. In addition, Sorondo stated that nowadays jointly fighting against organ and human trafficking is a moral imperative for all countries.
Finally, the President of the Network, Domínguez Gil, remarked that through the continuous work undertaken by the Network for over more than a decade, the donor percentage in Ibero-America has increased by 67%.
Press release No. 369/17
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