Organ transplantation in China

Kidney transplants rose from about 3,000 in 1997 to 11,000 in 2004, falling to 6,000 in 2007. Liver transplants rose from a few hundred in 2000 to 3,500 in 2005, then dropped to 2,000 in 2007
Trend in kidney and liver transplants in the People's Republic of China (1997–2007)[1]

Organ transplantation in China has taken place since the 1960s, and is one of the largest organ transplant programmes in the world, peaking at over 13,000 liver and kidney transplants a year in 2004.[2]

Involuntary organ harvesting[3][4][5] is illegal under Chinese law. Growing concerns about possible ethical abuses arising from coerced consent and corruption led medical groups and human rights organizations, by the 1990s, to condemn the practice.[6] These concerns resurfaced in 2001, when a Chinese asylum-seeking doctor testified that he had taken part in organ extraction operations.[7]

In 2006, allegations emerged that many Falun Gong practitioners had been killed to supply China's organ transplant industry.[8][9] An initial investigation stated "the source of 41,500 transplants for the six year period 2000 to 2005 is unexplained" and concluded that "there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners".[8]

In December 2005, China's Deputy Health Minister acknowledged that the practice of removing organs from executed prisoners for transplants was widespread.[10] In 2007, China issued regulations banning the commercial trading of organs,[11] and the Chinese Medical Association agreed that the organs of prisoners should not be used for transplantation, except for members of the immediate family of the deceased.[12] In 2008, a liver-transplant registry system was established in Shanghai, along with a nationwide proposal to incorporate information on individual driving permits for those wishing to donate their organs.[13]

Despite these initiatives, China Daily reported in August 2009 that approximately 65% of transplanted organs still came from death row prisoners. The condemned prisoners have been described as "not a proper source for organ transplants" by Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu,[14] and in March 2010, he announced the trial of China's first organ donation program starting after death, jointly run by the Red Cross Society and the Ministry of Health, in 10 pilot regions. In 2013, Huang Jiefu altered his position on utilizing prisoners' organs, stating that death row prisoners should be allowed to donate organs and should be integrated into the new computer-based organ allocation system.[15] In 2018 and 2019, media investigations and academic analysis into these allegations increased.[16][17][18] In August 2024, media outlets reported on the first known survivor of China’s forced organ harvesting.[19][20]

  1. ^ Government policy and organ transplantation in China Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Lancet Retrieved 24 September 2010
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lancet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Organ harvesting in China in 2016: This is the brutal reality". Archived from the original on 13 April 2021.
  4. ^ "- ORGAN HARVESTING OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL DISSIDENTS BY THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY". Archived from the original on 13 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Congressional Testimony:Organ Harvesting of Religious and Political Dissidents by the Chinese Communist Party" (PDF). Ethan Gutmann. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. 12 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  6. ^ Annika Tibell (8 May 2007). "The Transplantation Society's Policy on Interactions With China". Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Doctor Says He Took Transplant Organs From Executed Chinese Prisoners" Archived 29 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine New York Times 29 June 2001
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference orgharv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Gutmann, Ethan. "China’s Gruesome Organ Harvest" Archived 17 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Weekly Standard, 24 November 2008
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference tidyup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "New system to boost number of organ donors". China Daily. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  12. ^ Press release, "Chinese Medical Association Reaches Agreement With World Medical Association Against Transplantation Of Prisioners's [sic] Organs" Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Medical News Today, 7 October 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2010
  13. ^ "shanghai". shanghai.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  14. ^ "China admits death row organ use". BBC News. 26 August 2009. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  15. ^ "China media: Military spending". BBC. 5 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  16. ^ "BBC World Service - Discovery, China's Organ Transplants, Tourism and Transparency". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  17. ^ How The West Enabled China Organ Harvesting Expansion, by Frances Martel, 22 June 2019, Breitbart News
  18. ^ Robertson, M.P.; Hinde, R.L.; Lavee, J. (14 November 2019). "Analysis of official deceased organ donation data casts doubt on the credibility of China's organ transplant reform". BMC Med Ethics. 20 (79): 79. doi:10.1186/s12910-019-0406-6. PMC 6854896. PMID 31722695.
  19. ^ "First Known Survivor of China's Forced Organ Harvesting Speaks Out". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  20. ^ Cleave, Iona (9 August 2024). "Chinese organ harvesting victim woke up chained to bed with parts of liver and lung missing". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 August 2024.