Organ-transplant rules set to be amended
By Cai Wenjun |
March 8, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ABOUT 1.5 million Chinese need organ transplants annually, while less than 1 percent of patients can receive them due to a serious organ shortage, Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu said in Beijing on Tuesday.
He noted that the organ shortage is so bad that executed prisoners are a major source of organs in China. But changes are coming, he promised.
The nation's organ-transplant regulations will be amended this year to establish a more modern donation system, he said. Led by the China Red Cross, the nation will set up an ethical and sustainable system to manage organ donation and distribution. Management of donors, recipients and the waiting list will be included. A trial on the system kicked off in March 2010 and was promoted to 16 provinces and municipalities last year.
According to an article Huang wrote in the respected medical journal Lancet last Saturday, China had 8.9 million deaths in 2006, including 60,000 from traffic accidents - a large pool of potentially suitable donated organs.
Huang said more education and campaigns will be launched to promote knowledge and the importance of organ donation. One encouraging sign: While there is cultural resistance to organ donations because of views that the body of the dead should be kept intact, those beliefs are becoming less common. In a survey of families whose loved ones donated organs after death, 85 to 90 percent felt the act had a positive effect during their grieving period.
Also in his Lancet article, Huang cited several ethical and legal issues associated with transplantation in China that remain, including the use of so many organs from executed prisoners.
In the article, he outlined the standards used to define cardiac death in China and a legal and procedural framework for the organ-donation system after cardiac death that adheres to both China's social and cultural principles and international transplantation standards.
"About 65 percent of transplantation operations done in China use organs from deceased donors, over 90 percent of whom were executed prisoners," said the article.
Dr Zhu Tongyu of Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital said the city's body-donation law is expected to be amended by the Shanghai People's Congress to allow organs from body donors to be used for organ transplants. Currently, only corneas can be used for transplants, while bodies can be used only for medical research and education.
He noted that the organ shortage is so bad that executed prisoners are a major source of organs in China. But changes are coming, he promised.
The nation's organ-transplant regulations will be amended this year to establish a more modern donation system, he said. Led by the China Red Cross, the nation will set up an ethical and sustainable system to manage organ donation and distribution. Management of donors, recipients and the waiting list will be included. A trial on the system kicked off in March 2010 and was promoted to 16 provinces and municipalities last year.
According to an article Huang wrote in the respected medical journal Lancet last Saturday, China had 8.9 million deaths in 2006, including 60,000 from traffic accidents - a large pool of potentially suitable donated organs.
Huang said more education and campaigns will be launched to promote knowledge and the importance of organ donation. One encouraging sign: While there is cultural resistance to organ donations because of views that the body of the dead should be kept intact, those beliefs are becoming less common. In a survey of families whose loved ones donated organs after death, 85 to 90 percent felt the act had a positive effect during their grieving period.
Also in his Lancet article, Huang cited several ethical and legal issues associated with transplantation in China that remain, including the use of so many organs from executed prisoners.
In the article, he outlined the standards used to define cardiac death in China and a legal and procedural framework for the organ-donation system after cardiac death that adheres to both China's social and cultural principles and international transplantation standards.
"About 65 percent of transplantation operations done in China use organs from deceased donors, over 90 percent of whom were executed prisoners," said the article.
Dr Zhu Tongyu of Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital said the city's body-donation law is expected to be amended by the Shanghai People's Congress to allow organs from body donors to be used for organ transplants. Currently, only corneas can be used for transplants, while bodies can be used only for medical research and education.
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