Body donations in Shanghai rise as new attitudes prevail

The latest figures show that in 2014 the average expected life span of a Shanghai resident had risen to 82.29 years old - in 1949 the life span was a mere 40 years. For the past 11 years the Shanghai life span has been keeping up with the life spans of people in first world countries.

Advances in medicine and medical research have played a major part in the longer lives that citizens can expect to lead these days. For some as well, blood, organ and tissue donations have proved crucial in saving lives.

However there is an irony in that while more Shanghai people donate their bodies to help others than any other city in China, cultural, traditional and ignorant attitudes mean that only a fraction of the bodies needed are actually given to medical students and researchers.

Increased number

March 1 was the 13th anniversary of regulated body donations in the city although it had operated a pilot body donation program from 1982. After years of hard work promoting and educating the public, last year the number of registered donors in Shanghai actually increased.

The Shanghai branch of Red Cross Society of China said that in 2014 2,499 donors had signed up to donate their bodies or corneas and 651 bodies and 60 corneas had actually been accepted. By the end of last year the total number of registered body or cornea donors in Shanghai stood at 38,704, one-third of the number of registered donors across the Chinese mainland. Actual donations numbered 8,034, two-thirds of the total donations throughout the Chinese mainland.

"The number of registered body donors and the actual donations in Beijing, or any other domestic developed cities like Shenzhen, can't compete with Shanghai," said Tang Zhaoxiang, the deputy director of the volunteer service department with the organ donation office at the Shanghai branch of the Red Cross Society of China.

"The development of medical research is ongoing but research into the human body has many impediments. As a research material the human body is really invaluable. Burying or cremating a body is a waste of these precious resources - researchers can find treasure in this waste," Tang said.

He said China has already started researching into the potential of human tissue banks which are operating in some foreign countries. "There are many versatile possible uses for human tissue like corneas. Corneas can already restore sight for some people and there are other techniques being developed that could allow us to repair bones without the fear of rejection."

He said that children could be born with faulty heart valves but now could be saved by donated heart valves.

190 lives saved

In Shanghai since 2010 more than 3,700 people have signed up to donate organs, and organs from 70 donors have been harvested, saving the lives of more than 190 patients.

"Organs can save lives but the organ donor system in China at present plays a neutral role, merely promoting donations - however one day it might change and actively support and encourage them," Tang said.

At present most organ donations only occur when a person has been declared brain-dead and the heart has stopped beating. "Not everyone's organs can help others." And if someone's body has been kept on a medical ventilator for too long, organs cannot be used for transplants. Most of the general public, however, do not accept organ harvesting, especially from a family member.

Shanghai has set up 17 body and cornea donation registration offices in Red Cross Society district branches. There are eight body and cornea donation registration and reception stations in city medical schools and hospitals and they operate on a round-the-clock schedule.

According to the Shanghai Body Donation Regulations, any resident aged over 18 has the right to enlist as a donor. They have to complete the donation registration form and choose where they want their bodies donated. Unless a person has been diagnosed with a highly infectious disease anyone can enroll to donate their bodies.

In theory then, at death, their bodies will be donated. But in reality a donation often doesn't happen, sometimes because people have forgotten about the donation registration, or sometimes because family members do not want the body touched.

The Red Cross branches around the city have established donor fellowship societies for the registered donors, keeping in touch with them regularly and checking their health.

One of the most successful of these groups is the Home of Silkworms volunteer fellowship society which was started by the Jiading Red Cross branch in 2009. By the end of 2014, this group had 1,027 registered donors and had seen 156 former members donate bodies or corneas. The eldest donor in the group is 101 and the youngest is 24. More than 500 donors are aged over 60.