Featured Image Credit: Sky News
Topics: Health, World News, Crime, Travel
Callum Jones
A group of men in Nepal have been duped into selling their kidneys after being told the organ would regrow.
The village of Hokse in the South Asian country has become known as 'Kidney Valley' in recent times because someone from almost every household has sold the human organ.
But with the rising levels of poverty, Nepal is faced with a health crisis once more, with kidneys at the centre of it.
Sky News recently spoke to two men - Kanchha and Ram - who are both in their 40s and sold their kidneys.
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After being driven by financial desperation, Kanchha is still in a lot of pain and unable to work following surgery.
He told Sky News: "It's impossible to count how many have done it. Everywhere, this village, that village, so many people have sold their kidneys."
The two men both reside in the village of Hokse - an area that has become infamous for a rather troubled history.
Brokers have been visiting the village for years now, persuading people to part with their organs.
While it may be illegal, the financial pressures the villagers face has led to a lot of them parting ways with their kidneys for money.
However, Sky News reports that some villagers were exploited, with some even being told their kidneys would regrow.
Tragically, some have even lost their lives as a result of what was done to their bodies.
Estimates have suggested that one in ten transplanted organs have been trafficked globally.
Kanchha sold his kidney in India, he added: "The agents made fake documents in Kathmandu, including Indian ID cards.
"My kidney was given to a fake sister. I think the doctor in India knew I'd sold it."
While you often expect kidney failure to be associated with the older generation, there has been a trend in recent times that goes against that.
Dr Pukar Shresth, a surgeon at the Human Organ Transplant Center in Nepal, used to only perform transplants on older people.
However, he has recently seen young people reporting kidney issues.
"It is very grave because about one third of all transplants are these labour migrant workers who have come from abroad," he told Sky News.
"This has caused a huge burden to our health resources health facility because they account for more than 30% of the total transplant number in our country."
Symptoms of kidney failure can often go unnoticed and by the time many migrant workers arrive back in Nepal, it's often too late.