China to set up database for organ transplants

BEIJING - A Ministry of Health spokesman said Wednesday that a national database to record and distribute human organ donations will be established.

The ministry has already drafted an organ distribution regulation, spokesman Deng Haihua said, adding that the regulation must pass a trial phase first.

A national database will improve distribution efficiency as well as facilitate authorities' supervision of the operation and ability to trace the sources of organs, Deng said.

A waiting list automatically formed by the computer system will also prevent malpractice, he said.

However, Deng did not reveal the timetable for building the database.

A network for organ donations and transplants will be formed by 164 qualified hospitals nationwide, and a committee jointly founded by the ministry and the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) will supervise the network, according to Deng.

China bans organ donations from living donors, except for close family members such as spouses and blood relatives.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that about 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants, although only some 10,000 transplants are performed annually.

Medical experts have long urged the establishment of a transparent system for organ donation and distribution in order to boost the number of organ donors.