Talking to Young Journalists Club Agency, Latifa Rahmani’s father said that his 12- year old daughter died in the Namazi Hospital in the Iranian city of Shiraz from liver failure. The hospital refused to make the surgery because Iran’s laws ban transplant surgeries for illegal immigrants. Latifa, according to Zamaneh Radio had been in desperate need of a liver transplant but it was illegal according to Iran’s Laws. The father added, “My daughter stayed in the hospital for about two weeks until she died. Doctors refused to make the surgery because we were illegal immigrants and couldn’t afford the cost of the surgery.” According to him, the hospital administration refused to release his daughter’s body for the funeral asking him to pay five thousand dollars.
In 1993, following the high demand of people from neighboring countries like Afghanistan, India, Azerbaijan, and others for liver transplant surgeries in Iran, the Association of Protecting Kidney diseases patients asked the Iranian Medical Systems Organization to prohibit kidney transplant to foreign nationals because it contradicts the Iranian Nation’s Values and dignity.
