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Kidneys buy iPad, pay gambling debts
By Wang Aihua, Lai Yuchen and Wu Di |
June 11, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
STEVE Jobs, the American IT icon who founded Apple Inc and gave the world its iPods and iPhones, probably never imagined that a young man in China would sell one of his own kidneys in order to buy an iPad 2.
"Xiao Zheng," a 17-year-old technophile, sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan (US$3,300) through an underground dealer. He used the money to buy an iPad 2 and a laptop computer. Earlier this month, Xiao Zheng's story appeared on the Internet, drawing thousands of comments.
While Xiao Zheng's Apple madness was greeted with morbid curiosity, the story of an impoverished countryside resident who ended up losing a kidney in an illicit organ deal ignited public fury over the practice.
A few months ago, 26-year-old Hu Jie from central China's Hunan Province decided to sell one of his kidneys to settle his gambling debts. Hu had second thoughts about the deal, but before he could voice his discontent, the underground dealers he had contacted cornered him and bound him to an operating table. He lost one of his kidneys.
"It was a dark room, cold and shabby," Hu said. "The nurse inserted a huge needle into my body, and I soon passed out." Hu posted his tragic experience on the Internet in February, which later led to the Ministry of Health ordering a nationwide crackdown on hospitals conducting unlicensed organ transplant surgeries.
At the end of March, public health authorities in north China's Shanxi Province revoked the medical license of Changliang Hospital, where Hu's surgery took place. The hospital's surgeries were suspended and the medical staff involved in the crime will likely face legal action.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of illegal organ deals taking place in China every year, but horror stories occasionally surface, suggesting a fairly vibrant underground market. "Underground organ dealing rings have a strict hierarchy," Hu said. "Those in charge of finding organ sellers are at the lowest level, and those contacting buyers are higher. On top of the ring are the people securing the hospitals."
Both Xiao Zheng and Hu got into contact with illegal intermediaries through the Internet. In their words, websites filled with alluring advertisements for organ deals were just a click away.
Liu Yang, a director from the provincial public health department in Shanxi, said the underground organ market is fed by a massive supply gap. Statistics show there are about 1.5 million patients on China's organ transplant waiting list, but the number of registered donors is only about 10,000, accounting for less than one percent of the demand.
One major reason for the shortage, said Liu, is the traditional Chinese belief that humans should die intact.
In 2007, the State Council, or China's cabinet, issued a regulation banning living people from donating organs, except for spouses, blood relatives and in-laws or adopted family members.
In February this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, revised the country's Criminal Law to criminalize "organizing others to sell human organs."
Liu Mingxiang, vice dean of the Law School of Renmin University, said that criminalizing underground organ transactions is a significant step forward in preventing the practice.
In the meantime, authorities are racking their brains to find a way to encourage the public to donate their organs posthumously.
In March 2010, the Ministry of Health and the Red Cross Society of China launched an organ donation pilot program in 11 provinces and municipalities. But as of February this year, the program has only resulted in the donation of 37 organs.
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
"Xiao Zheng," a 17-year-old technophile, sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan (US$3,300) through an underground dealer. He used the money to buy an iPad 2 and a laptop computer. Earlier this month, Xiao Zheng's story appeared on the Internet, drawing thousands of comments.
While Xiao Zheng's Apple madness was greeted with morbid curiosity, the story of an impoverished countryside resident who ended up losing a kidney in an illicit organ deal ignited public fury over the practice.
A few months ago, 26-year-old Hu Jie from central China's Hunan Province decided to sell one of his kidneys to settle his gambling debts. Hu had second thoughts about the deal, but before he could voice his discontent, the underground dealers he had contacted cornered him and bound him to an operating table. He lost one of his kidneys.
"It was a dark room, cold and shabby," Hu said. "The nurse inserted a huge needle into my body, and I soon passed out." Hu posted his tragic experience on the Internet in February, which later led to the Ministry of Health ordering a nationwide crackdown on hospitals conducting unlicensed organ transplant surgeries.
At the end of March, public health authorities in north China's Shanxi Province revoked the medical license of Changliang Hospital, where Hu's surgery took place. The hospital's surgeries were suspended and the medical staff involved in the crime will likely face legal action.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of illegal organ deals taking place in China every year, but horror stories occasionally surface, suggesting a fairly vibrant underground market. "Underground organ dealing rings have a strict hierarchy," Hu said. "Those in charge of finding organ sellers are at the lowest level, and those contacting buyers are higher. On top of the ring are the people securing the hospitals."
Both Xiao Zheng and Hu got into contact with illegal intermediaries through the Internet. In their words, websites filled with alluring advertisements for organ deals were just a click away.
Liu Yang, a director from the provincial public health department in Shanxi, said the underground organ market is fed by a massive supply gap. Statistics show there are about 1.5 million patients on China's organ transplant waiting list, but the number of registered donors is only about 10,000, accounting for less than one percent of the demand.
One major reason for the shortage, said Liu, is the traditional Chinese belief that humans should die intact.
In 2007, the State Council, or China's cabinet, issued a regulation banning living people from donating organs, except for spouses, blood relatives and in-laws or adopted family members.
In February this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, revised the country's Criminal Law to criminalize "organizing others to sell human organs."
Liu Mingxiang, vice dean of the Law School of Renmin University, said that criminalizing underground organ transactions is a significant step forward in preventing the practice.
In the meantime, authorities are racking their brains to find a way to encourage the public to donate their organs posthumously.
In March 2010, the Ministry of Health and the Red Cross Society of China launched an organ donation pilot program in 11 provinces and municipalities. But as of February this year, the program has only resulted in the donation of 37 organs.
(The authors are writers at Xinhua news agency.)
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