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- CommentAuthorjacob
- CommentTimeNov 21st 2009
It wasn't long ago when the Chinese government launched a national organ donation system in a bid to crack down on organ trafficking, but it has been revealed that organ trading has become more active than ever and people can buy and sell kidneys openly on line in a dozen cities across the country.
It's a blow to the government which has tried to restore its reputation after being much criticised for its use of executed prisoners' organs as a primary source of transplants.
Presenter: Lily Yan
Speakers: Zhai XiaoMei, bioethicist from Chinese Academy of Medical Science; Dr Daniel Wikler, Harvard School of Public Health; Zhao LiZhen, Head of Red Cross Society in Shenzhen- Listen:
- Windows Media
YAN: The Chinese kidney trading websites look disturbing:they are packed with organ brokers' advertisements, their contact numbers are openly on display. They ask potential sellers to contact them, promising a safe surgery and a quick cash payment. Official statistics estimate more than 1 million people in China need organ transplants each year, yet only 1 percent of them will receive one. Experts say four out of five patients die while waiting for a suitable match.
Professor Zhai Xiaomei is a bioethicist from Chinese Academy of Medical Science. She says it is this huge discrepancy in supply and demand that has fuelled the illegal trade.
ZHAI: The simplest reason is human organs are rare health resources, their supply is far less than their demand.
YAN: She also points out the corrupt doctors have assisted the trafficking.
ZHAI: The brokers are connected those doctors who only care about money. It's also possible that the brokers lied to the hospital, saying the buyers and the sellers are relatives or have close bond with as the law allows live organ donations between these people. But any doctors with a sense of social responsibility will be able to tell if it looks dodge, but often they turned a blind eye. -
- CommentAuthorjacob
- CommentTimeNov 21st 2009
YAN: China has been relying on executed prisoners as a major source of organs, a claim acknowledged only recently by Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu during an interview with a state media. Professor Zhai says the government has realised it has to find other solutions.
ZHAI: The problem with using executed prisoners' organs is that there is always a question mark if the organs were really voluntarily donated. It's very hard to verifyAnd as the society moves on, and less death penalties are handed out, the government has to find other ways, that is to educate and encourage public to register as organ donors.
YAN: The country has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world. Zhao Lizhen is the Head of Red Cross in southern city of Shenzhen, the first to set up an organ donation office in the country a year ago. She says prmoting organ donation is no easy task in a country where people still hold onto their traditional values.
ZHAO: It's been tough, we made some but slow progress. Our volunteers who tried to talk to people in hospitals' intensive care unit or emergency departments were often met with rejection and even abuse. You have to remember that this is a country where people only just started to accept cremation instead of burial.
YAN: Dr Daniel Wikler from Harvard School of Public Health works on health issues with developing countries including China. He says a national system is also needed to boost organ donation rates.
WIKLER: Building up a system of voluntary donation and a system of transplantation as just a part of a functioning and adequate health care system will certainly be a step forward."
YAN: It's a daunting task, but bioethicist Zhao Xiao Mei says the government has to take on the challenges.
ZHAO: We can't allow organ trading. It will promote crime, even murder. It's not a fiction anymore, it's actually happening. It will also threaten human dignity and increase the gap between the rich and the poor. Because organ trading will always end up with the poor selling their organs and the rich buying. It's not a society we want to live in.
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