Beijing says current transplant sourcing system is both unsavoury and inefficient

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

China will start phasing out its reliance on organs from executed prisoners for transplants early next year as a new national donation system is implemented, a government-appointed expert has said.

Chinese officials acknowledge that a transplantation system that uses mostly organs from death-row prisoners is neither ethical nor sustainable, Wang Haibo said in an interview in the November edition of the World Health Organisation's journal, Bulletin.

An organ donation system run by the Red Cross Society of China had been piloted for two years in 16 regions and was scheduled to be rolled out nationwide by early 2013, Wang said.

"Now there is consensus among China's transplant community that the new system will relinquish the reliance on organs from executed convicts.

"The implementation of the new national system will start early next year at the latest. This will also mark the start of phasing out the old practice."

Wang was appointed last year by China's health ministry to lead a centre that is researching and designing a system to fairly and efficiently allocate organs to people who need them.

The vice-minister of health, Huang Jiefu, was cited by the official Xinhua news agency as saying China would abolish the transplanting of organs from executed prisoners within five years and try to spur more citizens to donate.

Organ transplantation in China has long been criticised as opaque, profit-driven and unethical. Critics argue death-row inmates may feel pressured to become donors, violating personal, religious or cultural beliefs.

The proposed change in policy was welcomed by international health and human rights groups.