China organ harvesting ban not to cause shortage: expert

China announced to ban the harvesting of transplant organs from executed prisoners on January 1, 2015/FILE

Huang Jiefu, head of the country’s human organ donation and transplant committee, made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

“The ban is aimed at addressing the problem of organ shortage,” Huang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee said. “The more respect we pay to death-row prisoners, the more voluntarily donated organs from citizens we will have.”

Voluntary donation from Chinese citizens has become the major source of organs for transplants, accounting for 80 percent of the total donated organs in 2014, Huang added.

Statistics show that nearly 1,000 body parts were donated by about 380 citizens in the first two months this year, an increase of 50 percent compared to the same period in 2014.

China announced to ban the harvesting of transplant organs from executed prisoners on January 1, 2015, demanding all hospitals stop using organs from death-row prisoners.

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