China will issue its regulations on human organ transplants
"soon", said an official of the Ministry of Health (MOH).
"The draft of the regulations has been submitted to the State
Council for amendment," said Wang Jianrong, vice director of the
MOH regulations department as quoted in Monday's Guangming
Daily.
Under the new regulations, a new organization will be in charge
of registering and allocating donated organs, and evaluating the
quality of the organ transplant surgery.
Only the top-tier hospitals - usually located in provincial
capitals - will be allowed to perform organ transplants once they
have been approved by the MOH. It remains to be seen whether
exceptions will be made in emergency cases.
Currently, China has no clear laws on human organ transplants.
This has resulted in transplants being carried out by unqualified
doctors with substandard medical equipment, leading to the death of
some patients. It is also widely claimed that hospitals are
preoccupied with the quantity of organ transplants rather than the
quality.
"The MOH will strictly control the number of hospitals licensed
to perform organ transplants and supervise the quality of the
surgery," said Wang Jianrong.
Ministry of Health statistics indicate that China performed
34,726 organ transplants from 2000 to 2004, and at the end of 2004,
599 medical institutions did liver, kidney, heart and lung
transplants.
Though organ transplants have been performed in China for 40
years, the absence of laws concerning organ transplants and
irregular organ transplant practices in some medical institutions
have hindered the promotion of organ transplants in the country.
Huang Jiefu, Vice Minister of Health, told a conference on the
management of organ transplants held in Guangzhou recently.
Meanwhile, China is still suffering a serious shortage of human
organ donations. "About 1.5 million people in China need
transplants each year, but only around 10,000 operations can be
carried out due to organ shortages,"
"Social customs are a big reason," Huang said, explaining that
many Chinese are unwilling to donate organs because of traditional
rituals and beliefs. Furthermore, education of the public about
donation is lacking, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)