Record number of transplants in China raises new concern about organ harvesting

July 22, 2015

Chinese medical officials expect to perform 12,000 organ transplants this year, setting a new record and raising concerns about the possible harvesting of organs from executed convicts, the AsiaNews service reports.

China has officially banned the harvesting of organs from executed convicted. But the country’s former deputy health minister, Huang Jiefu, observes that “China is a big country. No one can say for sure that there are no bad people out there.”

In China, where capital punishment is commonplace, the number of organ transplants peaked at about 10,000 a year before the official ban on harvesting prisoners’ organs went into effect.

 

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Further information:

• A “record number” of transplants in China, (possibly) despite a ban on harvesting organs from executed prisoners (AsiaNews)