China is drafting rules to give organ donors financial support to help with medical bills and children's schooling, and other subsidies for those in financial difficulties.

Officials said yesterday that it was the first time China had announced plans to give donors subsidies, but said it didn't violate the principle of a ban on organ sales.

"Discussion with other countries in the world also agrees with our thoughts," said Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu said in Beijing yesterday. "The donation is voluntary, free and public."

Huang said the subsidies would be given by a government-recognized third party. "Relevant facilities are under construction. The government is working on detailed policies, which will be announced soon," he said.

Pilot program

Meanwhile, the ministry is planning to expand a one-year national pilot program which began in March last year in 11 provinces and cities to encourage organ donations, better manage donations, prevent illegal organ sales and make sure organs are given to patients most in need.

"The pilot plan will be extended for another six months and gradually all over the nation," Huang said.

Under the program, the Red Cross in each participating region is registering people who want to donate their body or organs after death.

Doctors will start to collect organs after the donor dies and transplant useful organs to patients, who will be identified by the Red Cross through a register of patients based on hospital reports.

So far, more than 40 donors have realized their wishes under the pilot program.

The trial is under way in Tianjin, Guangdong, Liaoning and Zhejiang but not yet in Shanghai.

Donation law

"We can't speed up the pilot program in Shanghai as long as the local body donation law is still waiting to be amended to allow organ donation," said Zhou Xianglan, a Shanghai Red Cross official.

Shanghai's current law allows for bodies to be donated for medical research only and just corneas for transplants.

The law is expected to be amended by the Shanghai People's Congress this year to allow people to donate organs after their death.

Zhou said subsidies for donations could vary in different places but they hadn't been discussed in Shanghai. Subsidies to families with financial problems could be a good method to prevent black market sales, Zhou said.

China performs the second-highest number of organ transplants in the world, following the United States, but demand far exceeds supply.

There are about 1.5 million Chinese patients waiting for organ transplants every year, while the short supply limits operations to around 10,000, according to official figures.