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Voices: China stops harvesting organs from executed prisoners

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-03-11 17:15:52

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Former Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu, a CPPCC member, said China's organ donations won't fall further short of demand after the suspension, since January, of using executed prisoners as a source of organs. About 380 people donated organs between Jan 1 and March 3, with a total of 937 organs donated. Huang said he is confident that there will be more than 10,000 organs donated this year.

Respect for human rights and the rule of law have marked a historic new height for Chinese civilization. Banning the harvesting of transplant organs from executed prisoners can build the reputation of China as a responsible big country in the field of organ transplantation, which will be a new contribution of Chinese civilization to the development of world civilization.

People’s Daily, Jan 30, 2015, via People's Daily Online

Only when we dare to face reality can we have the courage to change it. It is truly remarkable that our Chinese government has finally realized even death row prisoners have the right to decide how to dispose of their remains. It is the least they can do to respect the personal dignity of citizens.

Liu Changsong, director of Beijing Mugong Law Firm, Dec 5, 2014, via sohu.com

If we show respect for executed prisoners, there will be more and more Chinese people participating in organ donation.

@Student Yang Xuefei, a reporter of Bohai Morning Post, January 12, 2015, via Sina Weibo

In China, only 0.6 people out of a million are willing to donate organs (one of the countries with the lowest organ donation rates). If it goes on like this, there will be masses of people dying painfully and helplessly in the process of waiting for organ transplants in the near future. If we fail to pay proper attention to science, the consequences will be more serious than most of us have thought. Right, I am a donor, and I speak for myself.

@Chen Xiaoming in Silicon Valley, a former senior engineer in Baidu, an organ doner, Feb 27, 2015, via Sina Weibo

In terms of the status quo of organ donation and transplants in China, the harvesting of transplant organs from executed prisoners is necessary. Due to cultural traditions, Chinese people who are willing to donate organs are quite limited, and every year a large number of patients die without organ transplants. As a professional surgeon in organ transplants, what I need to do is to respect the true moment of choice of those death row prisoners, and to take each transplant operation seriously, objectively, rationally and cautiously. In this way, an organ from the body of a criminal can be used to save a new life.

A professional surgeon in organ transplants, Jan 16, 2013, via Phoenix Weekly

I have no objection to the respect and esteem for any people, but I think we should be more sympathetic to the patients and try our best to relieve their pain and raise the quality of their lives. I think we should learn from Singapore, where a citizen’s organs will be donated after his death by default.

@flyover-2012, Jan 13, 2015, via Sina Weibo