Death row organs used for transplants

BEIJING, China: The Chinese government has admitted that two thirds of all organs used in transplants in the country are taken from executed prisoners.

The admission comes after year of allegations that, facing incessant demand for transplants, prisoners and even young conscripts in the army were targeted for their organs.

Huang Jiefu, China's vice-minister for health, promised to clean up the organ donation business, saying death row inmates were "definitely not a proper source for organ transplants".

The dearth of organs for transplant in China is blamed on cultural taboos that make people reluctant to be buried without their bodies intact. According to official statistics, more than a million people in China need a transplant every year, but fewer than 10,000 receive organs.

Under Chinese law, organs can be taken from condemned prisoners only if they give written consent.

China executes more prisoners than all other countries in the world put together. However, a stricter appeals system introduced in 2007 has cut the number of available convict donors, putting further pressure on the system.

The large gap between supply and demand has led to a thriving black market, with "organ dealers" advertising openly on the internet, offering to match clients with donors willing to sell organs for profit.

The government announced a national plan to curb a rampant black market organ trade where a single kidney can sell for as much as NZ$120,000.

"The huge shortage of organ donors and organs has created a significant black market for organs," said Chen Zhonghua, the Chinese Medical Association's deputy director for transplanting. "This in turn has ruined public faith and willingness to donate."

A Beijing doctor can expect to make NZ$ 6,400 for carrying out an "illegal" transplant, according to one dealer, Li Zhe, who was interviewed by state-run Global Times newspaper. "If there are available matching organs for patients, trading can start immediately, I'll take care of all the procedures. A single case costs as much as 200,000 yuan (NZ$42,500) for a patient who needs a kidney."

The scale and openness of the trade has seen live donations rise from 15 per cent of transplants in 2006 to 40 per cent last year.

The Red Cross Society of China has now been charged with implementing a new scheme to encourage the public to offer their organs for donation, creating a database of potential donors and offering financial support to needy families of those who sign up.

China's ministry of health, which licenses 164 medical institutions to carry out organ transplants nationwide, said it had already revoked licences from 16 hospitals that had failed to comply with regulations on organ transplants.

- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, NZ HERALD STAFF