A declaration that was created at the Istanbul Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism in 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey, clarifies the issues of transplant tourism, transplant trafficking, and transplant commercialism, and provides ethical guidelines to be followed in organ donation and organ transplantation. The declaration insists that organ trafficking and transplant tourism be prohibited because they violate the principles of equity, justice, and human dignity, target poor and vulnerable donors, and lead inevitably to inequity and injustice.
The declaration was proposed by the World Health Assembly (the forum through which the World Health Organization is governed by its 194 member states). Since the creation of the declaration, over 100 countries have endorsed the principles. Some nations, including China, Israel, the Philippines, and Pakistan, have since strengthened their laws against the commercial organ trade.

SEE: medical tourism; SEE: organ trafficking; SEE: transplant commercialism; SEE: transplant tourism; SEE: transplant trafficking; SEE: travel for transplantation