Medical Practitioners and Ministry of Health Cooperate To Regulate Organ Harvesting

About 600 Chinese surgeons joined top health officials on November 13 for a national summit to discuss regulation of human organ transplants, according to a November 16 report (subscription required) in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). All medical institutions that perform organ transplants in China sent representatives to attend the National Summit of Clinical Application and Management of Human Organ Transplantation, which took place in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, according to a November 16 China Daily report. At the summit's conclusion on November 14, the surgeons issued a declaration to affirm that they would not engage in the purchase or sale of organs, and that they would obtain written consent before removing organs from a donor's body. Medical institutions and personnel affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police (PAP) also affirmed their commitment to the declaration. The release of the declaration came one month after China News Net reported (in Chinese) on October 11 that Huang Jiefu, Vice Minister of Health, had called on the medical industry to "establish standards for self-regulation, and cooperate to assist health administration agencies" in the area of organ transplant management.

The China Daily report notes that Chinese health officials acknowledge the shortage of human organ donations in China, and that this shortage has reportedly "spurred illegal trading of organs." A November 14 Xinhua report quotes Huang as saying that each year, approximately 1.5 million people in China need an organ transplant, but only 10,000 receive one. The China Daily report quotes Huang as saying that, "Apart from a small portion of traffic victims, most of the organs from cadavers are from executed prisoners." At a July 2005 conference, Huang became the first senior official to disclose that the majority of organs used in transplants in China come from executed prisoners, according to a November 28, 2005, article (in Chinese) in Caijing Magazine. Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), acknowledged during a September 28, 2006, press conference (in Chinese) that the organs of executed prisoners are used in transplants, but that such use is strictly regulated. Mao Qun'an, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health (MOH), criticized what he called "irresponsible" news media reports about harvesting organs from executed prisoners, but conceded that "improper human organ transplants" have taken place in China due to poor government regulation, according to the China Daily. Medical institutions currently manage organ donations, allocations, and transplant operations in China. The SCMP reported in its November 16 piece that the PLA or PAP typically carries out executions of prisoners in China.

Medical institutions and personnel (including those from the PLA and PAP) pledged in their November 14 declaration to comply with requirements under existing Chinese law and guiding principles adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987. Beginning on July 1, 2006, new MOH provisions banned the purchase and sale of organs, and provided prospective donors with the right to refuse donation. Neither these provisions nor the WHO guiding principles provide specific guidance on organs harvested from executed prisoners. The new provisions leave intact 1984 provisions regarding the use of corpses or organs from executed prisoners. Despite the official statements of Huang Jiefu, Qin Gang, and Mao Qun'an that organ donations must be accompanied by the written consent of the donor or donor's family members, the 1984 provisions say that a corpse or organ belonging to an executed prisoner may also be used if no one has retrieved the prisoner's corpse for burial. A November 28, 2005, Caijing Magazine report notes that the 1984 provisions are the only existing regulation on the issue of harvesting organs from executed prisoners. The report says: "[I]n several cases, local courts have sold organs from prisoners' cadavers without informing their families. Legal experts argue that the process is in dire need of more transparency and third-party oversight."

News media reports suggest that the impact of the new provisions remains to be seen, and that additional legislation to regulate human organ transplants continues to stall. In an October 24, 2006, article, the SCMP cited unnamed organ transplant professionals as saying that the provisions that went into effect on July 1 have not had "any effective influence on field operations," and that one key reason is their failure to address the issue of the sources of human organs for transplant. SCMP reported that health officials currently are finishing new ethical guidelines for human organ transplantation, but that one gray area is the requirement of informed consent from executed prisoners. The SCMP quotes an unnamed source as saying that, "The guideline[s] will specifically not mention the use of executed prisoners' organs, even though it's the main source of organs in China." The guidelines reportedly form the basis for China's first Regulations on Human Organ Transplants, which were still in draft form when the MFA's Qin Gang made his statement on September 28. A November 27 Guangming Daily article (in Chinese) cited to Wang Jianrong, Vice Director of the MOH Committee on Clinical Application of Human Organ Transplantation and MOH Policies and Regulations Department, as saying that the Regulations have now been submitted to the relevant agencies under the State Council for review. A June 16, 2005, Southern Daily report (in Chinese) and June 30, 2006, Beijing Review report noted that since 1996, over 100 members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have raised the need for legislation on organ donations. According to the Beijing Review, "The appeal for the legislation has been repeated at the National People's Congress and CPPCC annual sessions."

For additional information on the "Harvesting of Organs From Executed Prisoners," see Section V(b) of the CECC's 2006 Annual Report.