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The illegal operations are allegedly carried out at Apollo’s flagship Indraprastha Hospital, which is renowned across India for its transplantation services.
Apollo said it was “completely shocked” by the Telegraph’s revelations and would investigate. “Any suggestion of our wilful complicity or implicit sanctioning of any illegal activities relating to organ transplants is wholly denied,” it added.
Since 2005, the World Bank Group’s private arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has offered £120 million in loans and investment to Apollo Hospitals to promote the group’s domestic and regional growth.
In a 2017 report produced by the World Bank, it said its funding had been used for the expansion of the Apollo network, “purchase of equipment,” and provision of hospital services for “low-income patients” in India’s “smaller, less developed cities”.
Unethical practices ‘a serious issue’
The World Bank said the majority of these investments, which have not been directed to the Indraprastha Hospital, had been repaid or exited by the IFC, but added that it still had £51 million invested in Apollo’s health and lifestyle subsidiary.
Justice for Myanmar, a human rights activist group, said it was “deeply concerned” about the Telegraph’s report of illegal kidney sales.
“The allegations against Apollo should raise serious concerns at the IFC as a significant lender to Apollo Hospitals and current shareholder in an Apollo company,” said spokesperson Yadanar Maung.
“The International Finance Corporation board should urgently launch an independent investigation into Apollo, make the findings public and ensure remedy for victims.”
A spokesperson for the IFC declined to comment on whether the body would review its investments in Apollo.
“Unethical medical practices in organ transplants are a serious issue and a practice that IFC does not tolerate in its investments,” they added.
Apollo has previously been entangled in a kidney racket, with two of its secretarial staff at the Indraprastha Hospital arrested in 2016 alongside a gang of brokers and donors. An investigation into the accused remains ongoing.
At the time, the company said it had been “a victim of a well-orchestrated operation to cheat patients and the hospital” and that it was duped by traffickers into removing the kidneys of victims believing they were relatives of needy recipients.
The fresh kidney trafficking revelations uncovered by the Telegraph have been widely reported in India, where the authorities have vowed swift action to ensure the country’s strict laws on organ transplants are being enforced.
Allegations denied by Apollo
Under India’s 1994 Transplantation of Human Organs Act, organs may be donated by living donors who are near relatives, like spouses, parents, siblings, grandchildren. Donations between strangers are forbidden, unless it can be proven it is for purely altruistic purposes.
These rules are supposed to be enforced by independent hospital medical boards who must sign off each case before a transplantation proceeds.
The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (Notto), which falls under the Indian federal health ministry, has urged authorities in Delhi to investigate the Telegraph’s disclosures.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, Dr Anil Kumar, the Notto director, asked the Delhi health secretary to “get the matter examined, take appropriate action as per the provisions of (the Act) and furnish an action taken report within a week,” reported the Indian Express.
The Telegraph contacted both the Delhi government and NOTTO for comment.
Apollo Hospitals has stressed that its approval process “cannot be carried out” unless the documents and cases it reviews are first certified by the Myanmar foreign ministry and its Delhi embassy. The Myanmar authorities have so far not commented on the matter.
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