{"id":33285,"date":"2015-02-05T11:42:52","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T10:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=33285"},"modified":"2015-02-05T11:42:52","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T10:42:52","slug":"the-challenges-china-faces-as-it-stops-using-organs-from-executed-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2015\/02\/05\/the-challenges-china-faces-as-it-stops-using-organs-from-executed-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"The challenges China faces as it stops using organs from executed prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kanhua_yin\"<\/a>\"can_wang\"<\/a>From 1 January 2015, China stopped using organs from executed prisoners for transplants<\/a>. This was announced by\u00a0Jiefu Huang, China\u2019s former vice minister of health and current head of the Organ Donation\u00a0<\/span>Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

This comes after a series of legislative frameworks for organ donation and transplantation\u00a0since 2007, as well as several pilot programmes that were conducted between 2010 and 2012.\u00a0According to Huang, 300,000 patients in China need transplants each year, but only 10,000 can\u00a0receive them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among these transplants, more than half come from deceased donors, 90% of which\u00a0come from executed prisoners<\/a>.\u00a0However, the average organ donation rate is 0.6 per million people\u00a0in China<\/a>.\u00a0Based on these data, we have reason to believe that the gap between organ supply and\u00a0demand will increase further in the next few years, when the new regulation is implemented.<\/p>\n

To tackle this problem, further revisions of legislative frameworks are required, which could extend to\u00a0a clearer definition of brain death and a more detailed description of donor criteria. This would help\u00a0reduce the confusion of potential organ donors and family members. In addressing their anxieties\u00a0about corruption and foul play during the organ donation process, efforts should be made towards\u00a0ensuring a fair and transparent organ donation registry.<\/p>\n

A focus on raising public awareness of volunteer donation is urgently needed. The organ donation\u00a0systems in Singapore and Hong Kong offer some great insights, considering many traditional values\u00a0are shared between these societies. Using the influence of celebrities and public media is an option, as\u00a0seen in recent AIDS campaigns in China. Additionally, civil organizations and public education events\u00a0led by organ receivers or healthcare providers could play an important role. In the end, physicians and nurses should become pioneers in the volunteer organ donation.<\/p>\n

The new regulation will certainly usher in the long overdue transition towards a standard and fair\u00a0organ donation platform in China. It will also be a powerful signal to the physician-scientists engaged\u00a0in the transplantation research. Historically, there has been an academic embargo that prevents Chinese\u00a0researchers from publishing organ transplantation clinical studies in international academic journals<\/a>.\u00a0By phasing out prisoner donors and encouraging volunteer public donations, it could be expected that\u00a0an increasing amount of research will be published about organs that have been channeled through legitimate,\u00a0traceable, and ethical sources.<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n