Chinese Red Cross tied to new organ donation scandal
Source: AFP |
July 10, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Chinese Red Cross demands money from hospitals to arrange organ donations, Beijing News reported yesterday.
The fee varies by location and is used mainly to pay donors' medical costs, an official with the Red Cross Society of China told the paper.
The newspaper cited a hospital employee in south China's Guangzhou City as saying the average donation for obtaining an organ was 100,000 yuan (US$16,000).
"But exactly how this money is used, the public does not know," the employee said.
Another hospital employee in the eastern province of Jiangsu said it gave the Red Cross 50,000 yuan intended for the donor's family.
Ethical considerations are a key issue in many transplant programs around the world, and under Chinese law it is illegal to trade in organs or to receive money for donations.
Demand for transplants in the country is high, with a vast and aging population. But supply is low because many Chinese believe they will be reincarnated after death and so feel the need to keep a complete body.
Only one in 30 patients registered for organ transplants receives one each year, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
The shortfall opens the way to forced donations and illegal sales.
The Shenzhen chapter of the Red Cross denied the Beijing News report in a statement to Xinhua news agency, saying it had worked on 25 organ donation cases with a hospital that decided to donate a lump sum of 150,000 yuan for donors.
There was no "100,000 yuan per case" arrangement, Xinhua quoted Red Cross as saying.
The Chinese Red Cross has previously faced accusations over a lack of accountability for the 80 million yuan it had raised for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
The fee varies by location and is used mainly to pay donors' medical costs, an official with the Red Cross Society of China told the paper.
The newspaper cited a hospital employee in south China's Guangzhou City as saying the average donation for obtaining an organ was 100,000 yuan (US$16,000).
"But exactly how this money is used, the public does not know," the employee said.
Another hospital employee in the eastern province of Jiangsu said it gave the Red Cross 50,000 yuan intended for the donor's family.
Ethical considerations are a key issue in many transplant programs around the world, and under Chinese law it is illegal to trade in organs or to receive money for donations.
Demand for transplants in the country is high, with a vast and aging population. But supply is low because many Chinese believe they will be reincarnated after death and so feel the need to keep a complete body.
Only one in 30 patients registered for organ transplants receives one each year, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
The shortfall opens the way to forced donations and illegal sales.
The Shenzhen chapter of the Red Cross denied the Beijing News report in a statement to Xinhua news agency, saying it had worked on 25 organ donation cases with a hospital that decided to donate a lump sum of 150,000 yuan for donors.
There was no "100,000 yuan per case" arrangement, Xinhua quoted Red Cross as saying.
The Chinese Red Cross has previously faced accusations over a lack of accountability for the 80 million yuan it had raised for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
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