Mexican singer harms the culture of organ donation in Mexico with discriminatory rant

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Health experts

agree that the claims made by Mexican singer Vicente Fernández are absurd, discriminatory, and irresponsible . Fernández claimed he rejected a liver transplant because he feared it might come from a drug addict or homosexual donor .

Vicente Fernández

said he was diagnosed with liver cance r and doctors told him he needed a transplant but he refused and fled the hospital : “They wanted to give the liver of another man and I told them: “I'm not going to sleep with my wife (while I have) the liver of another man. I don't know if it belonged to a homosexual or drug addic t.”

Doctor Mario Antonio Cardona

, a solid-organ transplants surgeo n explained that “the only reason there is to reject an organ or a tissue if because the donor has an acute contagious infection or a contagious chronic infection such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) , hepatitis B or C , syphilis , and tuberculosis .”

For the surgeon, the statements made by the Mexican singer are an “ abomination ” and show a total ignorance in regards to the body and human biology .

The doctor further explained that in some case, they have used tissues and organs from donors who used certain substance but whose organs were healthy , which didn't cause any damage to the receiver.

“It is totally absurd and little humane to think of homosexuality as if it were an infection . That a person has certain social conduct doesn't imply that they can't be a great donor ,” said the surgeon .

In Mexico , only 3.9 in every one million people donated their organs after their deaths, therefore, Mexico's culture of organ donation is inefficient compared to developed countries .

According to the surgeon, these type of statements made by a public figure “attack and impact those who want to donate negatively. It is condemnable that such a visible person affects 15 years of work.”

According to the latest report from the National Transplant Center , from January-March 2019 , there are 15,356 people on a waiting list to receive a kidney; 6,187 patients need a cornea , and 327 need a liver .

“The culture of organ donation has moved forward but at a slow pace. Unfortunately, because of these type of statements, from irresponsible people, a negative social impact over these issue has been generated.”