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Human Organ Transplantation in China

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Every time Apple is about to introduce a new iPhone product, fans of the products will remark that the season for selling a kidney is coming. It is no joke, and it comes from a real and sad story.

In 2011, a 17 years old high school student sold one of his kidneys for buying an iPhone. Five people, including a surgeon, were convicted of the crime of willful and malicious injury, and were judged by the people’s court to pay a compensation of ¥1,470,000 to the victim.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China processed 4,080 organ donations in 2016, up nearly 50 percent from a year ago. However, the data shows that the human organ supply and demand ratio in China is 1:30, while the number in the USA or other western developed countries is around 1:3.

In 2007, the People’s Republic of China issued the Regulations on Human Organ Transplantation (hereinafter referred to as these “Regulations”), which comply with the guiding principles on human organ transplantation proposed by the WHO, in which in the main, organ transplantation shall respect the free will of donors, human organ trafficking is strictly prohibited, patients applying for human organ transplantation surgery shall be sequenced based on the principle of fairness, impartiality and openness.

Human organ donation shall comply with the principles of free will, without any monetary payment or other reward of monetary value. A citizen has the right to donate or not to donate his human organ; and no organisation or individual may force, fraud or entice others to donate human organs.

Prohibiting Commercial Transaction of Human Organs

In order to prohibit commercial transaction of human organ in a disguised form, these Regulations also provide that the recipient of a living human organ shall be limited to the spouse, lineal relative or collateral kinship within three generations of the donor of the living human organ, or to a person who has a loving relationship with the donor of the living human organ due to support or other reasons shown by evidence.

Criminal Liability for Human Organ Trafficking

In accordance with these Regulations, a person shall be held criminally liable if they have:

(i) Removed the living human organ of a citizen without obtaining his consent;

(ii) Removed the human organ of cadaver of a citizen who has ever expressed his disagreement to donation of his human body; and

(iii) Removed the living human organ of a citizen below 18 years old.

In 2015, China stopped to use the human organ of convicts sentenced to death as a source of human organa for transplantation, and donation has become the only channel for their obtaining, while the public are being encouraged to improve their awareness of human organ donation. Faced with the new circumstances, China is currently considering the formulation of a Law on Human Organ Transplantation or produces an upgraded version of the Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation, in order to increase the credibility of human organ transplantation distribution and enhance law enforcement.

This, it is hoped that more and more patients in China will get their treatment by human organ transplantation which is conducted within the frame of humanism, morality and law.

Disclaimer
This article is intended solely for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Although the information in this article was obtained from reliable official sources, no guarantee is made with regard to its accuracy and completeness. For more information please visit dandreapartners.com or WeChat: dandreapartners.
 
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