Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed a bill establishing a legal framework for organ, cell and tissue transplants to curb organ theft, according to his presidential statement.
The country's medical authorities expressed gratitude to the Ugandan leader for approving the legislation aimed at better regulating this field.
"The door is now open for Uganda to begin a new chapter of Organ Transplant," Health Minister Jane Aceng tweeted.
The Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2023, the first of its type in Uganda, outlaws any commercial dealings involving human organs and tissues. Penalties include life imprisonment and harsh fines.
The Ugandan lawmakers passed the legislation last September.
The law against theft of human organs was signed by the president on the same day as the much-discussed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, regarded as one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, which has elicited a wave of condemnation from the West.
In addition, the Markets Act was enacted at the same time, "strengthening the regulation, management, and administration of markets", and the Museums and Monuments Act, aimed at "protecting cultural and natural heritage resources and the environment."