Zardari signs up for organ donation

 ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday became the first Pakistani president to donate all his body organs, after signing a landmark bill to regulate transplant of human organs in the country. 

The president made the announcement of "donating his whole body" after his death as he inked the document in a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr. 

Zardari said he took the decision in the light of his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's philosophy of living for others, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. 

The law makes the sale and unauthorised transplant of body organs punishable with up to 10 years in prison, and provides for a regulatory mechanism, including a high-level federal monitoring authority and evaluation committees, for the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs and tissues for therapeutic purposes. 

The president said Pakistan had been singled out in the world community due to the illegal trade in body organs and urged parliament and doctors to create awareness about the issue among the masses. 

He asked the doctors' community to "inform the government in case of any violation and help save precious lives." 

"No law can be effective without people's support," the president said and sought the help of the masses in countering the illegal trade.