China to end reliance on organ donations from prisoners

GUANGZHOU - China's reliance on organ transplants from condemned prisoners will end within two years after a human organ donation trial project proved successful, a senior official said.

From March 2010 to the end of September 2012, the trial consisted of 465 donation cases, which resulted in 1,279 organs being donated by members of the public, said Huang Jiefu, vice minister of health.

He was speaking in the capital city of South China's Guangdong province on Wednesday.

The move means there will be less reliance on the use of organ donations from prisoners that have been sentenced to death.

According to a report by chinanews.com, the project, jointly established by the ministry and the Red Cross Society of China, resulted in more than 100 cases being performed in Guangdong. The province had the most number of donations.

In 2007, China's State Council, or the Cabinet, issued its first regulations on transplants, banning organizations and individuals from trading human organs.

The 2011 amendments to China's Criminal Law also introduced three clauses dedicated to organ-related crimes, under which convicted organizers of organ trafficking activities may face fines or prison terms of more than five years.

Under the law, criminals convicted of "forced organ removal, forced organ donation or organ removal from juveniles" could face punishment for homicide.