The number of organ donations and transplants in China hit a record-high after the country banned the use of executed prisoners' organs in January 2015, making voluntary donation from citizens the only legitimate channel, a former health official said recently.
More than 6,000 organs had been donated by over 2,000 donors as of early October, marking a record high after January's ban prompted concerns about an acute shortage of organs, Huang Jiefu, a former vice-minister of health and current head of the National Human Organ Donation and Transplant Committee, was quoted by the Beijing Youth Daily as saying on Monday.
He said that over 300 hospitals will become qualified to perform organ transplants next year and that over 500 young doctors will be trained in donation and transplant procedures.
In 2014, voluntary donations from Chinese citizens became the largest source of organs for transplant, accounting for 80 percent of all donated organs, the Xinhua News Agency reported on August 22.
According to a poll conducted by the National Human Organ Donation and Transplant Committee in the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou in 2012, 40 percent of survey respondents said they were "uncertain" whether they were willing to donate, largely because of uncertainties about "whether their organs will be treated fairly and transparently," Xinhua reported in April.
Access to organs is managed by local organ procurement organizations under the leadership of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NFHPC).
Distribution of donated organs is handled by the China Organ Transplant Response System, a human organ donation acquisition and distribution system launched in August 2013 to prevent organ trading and abuse of power.
Traditional beliefs that favor preserving bodies intact after death may also make would-be donors hesitate, Zhu Jiye, director of the Organ Transplantation Center of Peking University, told the Global Times. Zhu advised that people should instead try to think of organ donation as a kind of continuation of their lives.
China started a voluntary organ donation trial program in 2010 and began promoting the practice across the country in 2013.
According to a report released by the NFHPC in 2013, China has witnessed the second largest number of organ donations in the world.
