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U.S. transplant tourism grows, with U.S. patients paying over $250,000 for a heart.

2004

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Based on a survey of 98 countries that represent more than 5.4 billion people, which is 82% of the world's population, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10% of all global kidney transplants in 2004 were for patients from countries in the Global North who traveled to "economically challenged" nations to buy organs. U.S. American patients pay brokers upwards of $150,000 for kidneys, and as much as $250,000 for hearts.