The man who received two limbs during the first-ever double leg transplant may be up walking on crutches in six or seven months, provided he does well during his physical rehabilitation, according to Spanish doctors who carried out the surgery. Dr. Pedro Cavadas, a transplant surgeon at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, Spain who led the surgical team, said during a press conference the patient was very excited after he saw his new legs.

Spain will take the lead on improving the training of transplant coordinators under a European Union directive published last year aimed at setting uniform quality and safety standards and improving waiting times for transplants.

The stories are grim and often impossible to confirm: illicit clinics, corrupt doctors and global networks dealing in human flesh. International organ trafficking is a big business, with an estimated value of $50m in 2008, according to Michael Bos from the European Platform on Ethical Legal and Psychosocial Aspects of Organ Transplantation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated in 2007 that organ trafficking accounts for between five and 10 per cent of kidney transplants performed annually across the globe.

Researchers at King's College London have used cells found naturally in the body, to re-educate the immune system to prevent rejection of an organ transplant while remaining capable of fighting infections and cancer.

By taking the decision to donate the organs of their deceased child for transplantation, the parents of this boy are showing their solidarity with the patients waiting for a transplant in order to survive. At the level of the grieving family this is the same fundamental value of solidarity that Japan has been demonstrating since the earthquake.

President Asif Ali Zardari today signals top-level personal support for a new national organ transplantation service by signing an organ donor card to bequeath his organs upon his death. The new service is based on donations from deceased donors. It prohibits commercial transplantation and outlaws the organ trade.