Executed prisoners

The latest revelations are a blow to China, which has been trying to restores its reputation after being criticised for its use of executed prisoners' organs as a primary source of transplants.
The claim was 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.
"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 verify," he said.
"And 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."

'No easy task'

The country has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world.
Zhao Lizhen, head of the Red Cross in the southern city of Shenzhen, helped set up the country's first organ donation office a year ago.
She says promoting organ donation is no easy task in a country where people still hold onto their traditional values.
"It's been tough, we made some 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," she said.
"You have to remember that this is a country where people only just started to accept cremation instead of burial."
Dr Daniel Wikler from the 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.
"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."
It's a daunting task, but bioethicist Zhao Xiao Mei says the government has to take on the challenges.
"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."