Prestigious international experts have slammed allegations that 60,000 to 100,000 organ transplants are performed in China each year using organs from so called "prisoners of conscience," dismissing the claim as "ridiculous and adsorb."
Such lies spread for political purposes are vulnerable when confronted with statistics, Huang Jiefu, chairman of China's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, said at a press conference following the China Special Symposium of the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society on Thursday.
China performed a total of 10,057 organ transplants in 2015, accounting for 8.5 percent of the world total. The fact can be easily confirmed by the amount of immunosuppressive agents, a traceable must-have drug for patients after their transplant surgeries, used by China annually, said Huang.
Elaborating on the figure, he said China consumed 8 percent of the drugs used worldwide, which matches China's 8.5 percent share in global transplant surgeries, with all human organs coming from citizen donation and live organ donation from relatives of the patients.
Some ill-intentioned groups are treating the sacred cause of saving lives as a political game and demonizing China, but statistics never lie, he said.
Francis Delmonico, former president of the Transplantation Society and professor of Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital, said the persons behind the rumor should be challenged to present their evidence.
Experts at the conference suggested that China ignore the rumors and move forward.
China banned the use of organs from executed prisoners in 2015.
Michael Millis, professor of Surgery and chief of the Section of Transplantation of the University of Chicago Hospitals, said the truth is being told.
"It's being told that the use of executed prisoner organs is no longer tolerated. That is the truth. The truth is we have a voluntary citizen-based organ donation system in China that is working and growing," he said.
José Nuñez, medical officer in charge of global organ transplantation at the World Health Organization, said China is now on board with the international community in the field of organ transplantation.
"We are all in the same train because we share the same principles, the same ethical practice... we have to work together in that line," the officer said.
The experts also applauded China's accomplishment in organ transplantation reform in recent years.
Nuñez said he believes that in no more than two to three years, China will be leading the world in the area of human organ transplantation.
His words were echoed by Millis, who said China has made great achievements in the past decade in organ transplantation. The growth, especially in the last year, has been tremendous and very gratifying and rewarding, he said.
"It (China) has the population and the need to make the strides that we have been unable to do in the rest of the world. So I look forward to continue academic interactions (with China)," said Millis.
Statistics show that China now has the most organ donations per year in Asia and the third highest number globally. In addition, it is performing the second highest number of organ transplants in the world after the United States.
By the end of June 30, 2016, a total of 7,711 cases of organ donation after the death of citizens were recorded in China, with 21,346 large organs donated.
In 2015 lone, 2,766 donation cases were recorded, more than the total number in 2013 and 2014 combined.
In the first half of this year, 1,795 cases of donation were completed in China, an increase of 45 percent compared to the same period of last year.
