Organ transplant scheme to be adopted across the country
By Cai Wenjun |
July 11, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A HUMAN organ distribution network, already on trial in some provinces, will be promoted nationwide soon, with all donated organs included in the scheme to ensure fair and reasonable use of a limited supply, officials from the State Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday.
The network, run by the Red Cross Society of China, was established in 2010 and pilot schemes began in 16 regions in March of that year.
Up to the beginning of this week, 918 people in China had donated 2,495 major organs after death. Of that number, 720 organs from 353 donors were part of the trial network, which distributed them to 38 hospitals.
Commission spokesman Deng Haihua said the network will "automatically match organs and recipients in accordance with their degree of medical need, as well as the donor and recipient's compatibility."
The commission will also introduce rules concerning management of organs in order to make the process more transparent, he said. The rules will also make the use of the system compulsory, Xinhua news agency reported.
In China, organs come from three sources - executed prisoners, live donations from family members and organ donation after death.
Officials said a proper organ donation and distribution system will eventually help China phase out its reliance on organs from executed prisoners.
In most need
Information about organs and patients will be put into a national database to ensure organs are given to the patients who are in the most need.
Previously, hospitals obtained organs through their own sources and used these for their own patients, who may not be those in the most need.
The trial scheme has adopted the criteria of both cardiac and brain death. Many Chinese people are unwilling to accept that death occurs when brain activity ceases so donors' hearts must have also stopped beating before organs can be taken. Adopting both criteria will make it easier for family members to agree to organ donations, officials said.
China is also struggling to popularize donation because tradition calls for people to be buried or cremated with organs intact.
Shanghai's government announced the first group of 17 city-level hospitals to carry out human organ collection and transplants in December last year when it officially joined the trial network. However, there have been no organ donations under the scheme so far and the major source of organs in local hospitals are still executed prisoners.
Officials from Shanghai Red Cross said yesterday that discussions are under way over national and provincial incentive policies for donors from poor families, addressing issues such as reimbursement of funeral expenses, medical bills and financial aid for family members.
Money for the donors will be raised through the welfare lottery and donations from hospitals receiving organs, the Red Cross said.
About 1.5 million people are on the waiting list for transplants in China, but there are only around 10,000 operations a year due to the lack of organs.
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