2016年CRI Organ donation in China develops in historic high momentum

China decided 1 to allow organ donation in the country back in 2007.

Three years later, a donation system was set up in 10 provincial 2 regions across the country on a trial basis .

Development in this area was slower in comparison with today, with China once relying heavily on organs from executed criminals to supply its roughly 10-thousand organ transplants per year.

An absolute ban on organs from executed criminals taking effect in January of last year prompted China to seriously consider organ donations as an alternative.

Li Bin 3, head of China's top health authority, says a well-established organ donation system is becoming a reality in the country.

"We have been improving the systems for donation and distribution. The distribution system has become highly automated 4. We've established a zero-barrier channel for organ transfers so as to make sure there is enough time for life-saving operations. We've also set up an information-based platform to supervise donation process, which makes it possible to trace back to sources of donation. The year 2015 has been a milestone 5 in China's organ donation development, because the sources of the needed organ went through a fundamental change last year."

Data compiled by the World Health Organization show China has the third largest number of organ donors 6 in the world, accounting 7 for 8.5-percent of the world's total in 2015.

The organization's Director-General Margaret Chan expects China to play a constructive 8 role in promoting organ donation across the world.

"Many solutions that worked out in China can serve as models for other countries facing similar challenges. Efforts are underway to promote a culture of donation in hospitals, and build well-trained specialist teams. Many safeguards have been put in place to protect donors, as well as recipients 9, and to ensure then that organ allocation is fair and traceable."

Organ donation has long been an issue manipulated by a small group of foreign-based people in an attempt to demonize China's human rights record.

Rumors 10 are circulating that there could be up to 100-thousand organ transplants in China each year, forcing Chinese authorities to compensate 11 for the imbalance in supply and demand by turning to organs from prisoners for supplies.

Jose Nunez, head of the organ transplant program at the World Health Organization, says such rumors are nonsense.

"That's impossible for two main reasons. That's mainly the whole number that's performed worldwide. So if China was doing 100-thousand, what's the rest of the world doing. I mean, none. Second, to meet the needs of 100-thousand patients a year, that will lay the same amount of relevant drugs every year. But China is only using about 8 to 10 percent of the relevant drugs. So there's this great discrepancy 12 between numbers and use of drugs."

Chinese health officials say donation based on free willed donations from donors is currently the only legal source for organ transplants in the country.

For CRI, this is Ding Heng.