China moves to cut use of executed inmates' organs

AP Aug. 26, 2009

BEIJING – China has launched a national organ donation system to try
to reduce its dependence on body parts harvested from executed
prisoners, who make up the majority of donors, state media reported
Wednesday.

Organ transplantation in China has long been criticized as
profit-driven and unethical, with critics arguing death row inmates
may feel pressured to become donors, violating personal, religious or
cultural beliefs.

The World Health Organization and international human rights groups
welcomed the new system, saying it was in line with best practices in
other countries and would likely help meet the needs of all patients.

The move is China's latest step to better regulate organ transplants.
Medical officials agreed in 2007 not to transplant organs from
prisoners or others in custody, except into members of their
immediate families.

But in a rare disclosure about an industry often criticized for being
opaque, the China Daily newspaper said Wednesday that more than 65
percent of organ donors come from death row.

Though the figure could not be confirmed with the government, Vice
Health Minister Huang Jiefu has publicly acknowledged in recent years
that most organs used for transplants are taken from executed
prisoners, though only with prior consent.

Condemned prisoners are "definitely not a proper source for organ
transplants," the China Daily quoted Huang as saying.

With the new donor system, launched Tuesday, the Health Ministry and
Red Cross Society of China want to reduce that proportion by
encouraging the normally hesitant general public to donate organs
after they die.

WHO's top transplantation official in Geneva, Dr. Luc Noel, praised
the Chinese move, saying: "We're eager to see the results and are
very supportive."

Noel said a few other countries occasionally extract organs from
executed prisoners, though he did not specify which. China's
"reliance on organs from executed convicts was certainly not an
option that could withstand time" and opened the way for abuses, he
said.

Nicholas Bequelin, Asia researcher for New York-based Human Rights
Watch, said China's dependence on death row inmates for organs was so
high because there has been no system in place for organ donations.

"All organ transplants had to come from somewhere," Bequelin said,
noting the practice was riddled with problems. "If you're a prisoner
and you're about to be executed, you do not have a real choice,
especially in a system ... (that) is completely untransparent and
notorious for abuses against prisoners, as the Chinese system is."

The new donor system will link potential donors with recipients and
make public a waiting list of patients to increase transparency and
fairness in allocating organs.

The system was initially being launched in 10 provinces and cities,
including Shanghai, Tianjin and Xiamen and will eventually be rolled
out across the country.

Voluntary donations remain far below demand, partly because of
cultural biases against organ removal before burial. Only about 130
people have pledged to donate their organs since 2003, the China
Daily said, citing research by Chen Zhonghua, an organ transplant
expert with Tongji Hospital in Shanghai. Chen declined to comment
when contacted.

The Health Ministry said it could not provide more information on the
new donor system. The Red Cross Society of China would not take
questions by phone and did not immediately respond to a faxed request
for comment.