China to Stop Organ Donation from Prisoners

Claiming that a large majority of donated organs received by prisoners are infected with bacteria and fungi, the Chinese government has announced that it will stop the practice of receiving donated organs from the prisoners within the next five years.

The practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners for organ donation has long been seen as a human rights issue by human rights groups worldwide.

The Chinese government has always maintained that the organ donation program is voluntary even though human rights groups say that the prisoners are pressurized to donate the organs.

China depends heavily on the harvested organs from prisoners for transplants with such donations accounting for as much as two thirds of the transplant organs. The Chinese government has recently started a new national donation system for organ transplants though experts believe that the next generation of political leadership will have a tough task on hand to get voluntarily donated organs.

Source: Medindia