Chinese Doctors Pledge Not to Transplant Organs From Prisoners

Oct 08, 09:00 AM

Current Headlines: Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post website on 7 October

[Report by Klaudia Lee: "Pact To Block Harvesting of Inmate Organs"]

Mainland medical officials have promised not to transplant organs from condemned prisoners - except into members of their immediate families.

The agreement was reached between the semi-governmental Chinese Medical Association (CMA) and the World Medical Association during the world body's meeting in Copenhagen on Friday.

Chen Zhonghua, vice-chairman of the CMA's Chinese Organ Transplantation Society, hailed it as a "step forward" from the Ministry of Health's Human Organ Transplant Regulation in May, under which organs had to be volunteered by donors who had signed a consent form before they died.

It also follows international pressure on Beijing to eradicate what many deem an inhumane practice.

"The promise stipulates that it is not allowed even with (the prisoner's) consent, unless the patients are their immediate families," said Professor Chen, from the Transplantation Institute of Tongji Hospital in Wuhan .

He said the "Ministry of Health had certainly given its consent" before the association delegates made the promise. He also attributed the promise to the "huge international pressure".

"The World Medical Association delivered a strongly worded statement criticising the organ transplant situation in China last year.

"However, it's still unclear as regards the timetable - when this will be implemented and how they are going to do it. But it's the first time the Chinese side has made such a promise to abolish this practice."

He added: "Next year it will be the Olympics. China is worried that if it doesn't take a stance on this, some countries may use this issue as a pretext to boycott the Games."

In May last year, the international body passed a resolution stressing the importance of free and informed choice in organ donation and stating that prisoners and other individuals in custody were not in a position to provide consent.

It also called on the CMA to condemn any violation of those ethical principles and ensure that Chinese doctors were not involved in the removal or transplantation of organs from executed prisoners.

Professor Chen said that before last year, more than 95 per cent of transplanted organs came from prisoners. "But the situation started to change this year," he said. "We still don't have the exact figures but it is believed that the proportion of organs from prisoners is not as high as before."

Among the four main sources of organs - prisoners, families or relatives, "brain-dead" patients and "heart-dead" patients - there had been a rise in the number of donations by family members and brain-dead patients.

Professor Chen said it was important to promote donations by "brain-dead" patients, which made up more than 50 per cent of donated organs in developed countries such as the US.

Fan Sheung-tat, head of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the University of Hong Kong, said a tighter control mechanism was needed. "For example, there should be a longer interval between the signing of the consent form and the prisoners' death so that they could consider it thoroughly."

Health officials say the mainland faces a severe organ shortage, estimating that 1.5 million people a year need transplants and that only about 10,000 operations are carried out.

Originally published by South China Morning Post website, Hong Kong, in English 7 Oct 07.

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