Frontera NorteSur, October 1999

Human Organs Are Not Trafficked In Juárez As Rumored

An urban legend popular on the border became a topic of serious medical discussion in September. Cd. Juárez doctors outright denounced the statements made by an El Paso investigator who accused the border town of involvement in the trafficking of human body parts, particularly the kidney and cornea.

El Paso investigator J.J. Armes made statements accusing Juárez of being a center for organ trafficking and local doctors responded adamantly against his statements. Raúl García Acosta, doctor of gastroenterology at the Specialist Medical Center in Cd. Juárez, demanded that Armes recant his statements before he damages the perception of a very necessary medical tool, legitimate organ transplant.

"The comments of Armes are to be taken with much prudence and seriousness, not because of the information, but because of the possible repercussions of someone's throwing around such statements without foundation."

Acosta also said that it is virtually impossible to "traffic" human organs such as the kidney and several other medical authorities agreed. Roberto Vazquez Molinar, coordinator of the university health systems at the Universidad Autónomo de Cd. Juárez (UACJ), said that the comments of Armes seem to be influenced by movies such as "Coma" where this type of crime is played out. "There is no reality to this," Molinar concluded.

Astrid González, director of the state's health department said that if the El Paso dectective has information on the traficking of human organs in Cd. Juárez then he should present them formally to the Public Ministry. "I believe he needs to clarify his denouncement," of the medical community, she said.

José Ricardo Espinoza Valle, kidney specialist at the Cd. Juárez General Hospital said that J.J. Armes "didn't know what he was talking about."

Although it would be more likely to traffic a cornea, because it is not a vascular organ like the kidney, Valle has never heard of such a thing happening.

Espinoza Valle, who has conducted numerous kidney transplants, went on to explain the intricate details necessary, from matching blood types to medical history and procedures, in obtaining a live kidney donor that is compatible with the recipient.

Urban legend would have it that people have been accosted while socializing in bars in Cd. Juárez, given sedatives, then wake up the next day with surgical stitches across their abdomen or back only to later find out that a vital organ had been stolen from their body.

The doctors in Cd. Juárez seem to believe that the story is just that.

Hepatitis Alert Among Children In Cd. Juárez

Because so many cases of hepatitis "A" were reported from September to December of last year, the Mexican Institute of Health (IMSS) put out an alert in early September, targeted at families with children in preschool and elementary school, that they pay close attention to the hygienic habits of their young ones.

Héctor Lastra Reza, epidemiologist for the IMSS, said that according to the institution's records, in the fall the cases of hepatitis increases considerably, especially for children. "From the first weeks of school, as we are accustomed, it already seems that there is an atmosphere appropriate for the propagation of this disease." Lastra Reza added that it is possible to acquire the virus from other regions by people who have recently come into the area.

It is important to note that hepatitis "A" is the most benign type of this virus, however, it can be passed by hand or mouth so people must radically control their personal hygiene.

"The signs of this type of hepatitis are an elevated temperature, loss of appetite, fatigue, loss of color or mild yellowing of the skin and eyes, white excrement and dark urine," explained this expert.

In 1998 the Institute registered 193 cases of hepatitis "A" and have seen 56 cases so far this year.

El Paso Struggles With Children's Quality Of Life

According to September reports, El Paso has too few children immunized, too many children dropping out of school and a large percentage of the infant population living in poverty.

Seventy-four percent of El Paso children from 19 to 35 months old received the standard immunizations last year, a drop of seven percent from the previous year according to Robert D. Crider, Jr., with the Texas Health Department in Austin.

A September 20 binational conference on immunization was held in El Paso, where it was discovered that children in Cd. Juárez are better immunized for infectious diseases than those in El Paso because there is more aggressive immunization program.

El Paso also presented poorly in an annual study done by "Zero Population Growth" a group based in Washington D.C. The study, "Child Friendly Cities 1999," which published the seventh annual edition of the Children's Environment Index found that a third of the infant population of El Paso live in poverty and ten percent of the students in secondary school drop out before they have finished their studies.

According to this study of children from birth to 18 years old in 112 U.S. cities and their suburbs 30.4 percent of minor children in El Paso live in households with incomes less than $13,360. Although 16.2 percent of the children born to women under 20 rated high, El Paso maintained a low infant mortality rate with five percent for every thousand babies under one year old.

Also, it was reported that 10.6 percent of El Paso's youth drop out of high school before completing tenth grade. El Paso also received a grade of 7.5 for the number of violent crimes.

The study looks at social, economic, educational, health, transportation and environmental circumstances in order to grade each city. El Paso was not alone in the low grade it received. According to Priscilla González, principal researcher, the majority of cities looked at received grades of "C-" and very few cities received a perfect 10, including Fargo North Dakota and Seattle, Washington. Newark, New Jersey received an overall score of five out of the 1-10 ranking.

Sources: El Diario, El Norte, El Paso Times