Organ procurement from executed prisoners in China
The profound analysis presented by the Sharif et al. (1), regarding the use of organs from executed prisoners for transplantation in China, covers all main aspects of this complex and condemnable practice, that has been officially in use for more than 30 years in that country.
The international transplant community directed specific attention to this issue, given the atrocity of its nature, and has been trying to interpret the frequently confounding signals that emanate from official sources in China to induce changes towards ethically acceptable practices.
The position of any external observer—medical or not—will always be one of demanding an immediate halt on this practice. For its abolishment to be accomplished this needs the heroic courage of true and convinced leaders, who even risk their personal safety by confronting a practice that according to the authors generates millions in profits to many, and involves the impenetrable military system of that country.
As part of the international medical community, it is therefore my belief, that our immediate obligation is to continue offering unconditional moral support to those individuals and institutions, that have already complied to establishing ethical practices in their Centers, so that the progress already reached is secured. If we lose these bastions and leaders, who also represent the communication channels to the outer world, China will hopelessly wall itself off from otherwise welcomed interaction with the international community, and the difficult goals already achieved may get lost.
It is also our continued obligation, to denounce ongoing unethical practices, to explicitly oppose official maneuvers such as the proposed “organ laundering” as acceptable, and to appeal to all possible supranational entities (WHO, TTS, DICG, and others) to further insist with Chinese authorities to comply with the promise of banning and punishing the use of organs from executed prisoners as of January 2015.
Acknowledgements
Disclosure: The author declares no conflict of interest.
References
- Sharif A, Singh MF, Trey T, et al. Organ procurement from executed prisoners in china. Am J Transplant 2014;14:2246-52. [PubMed]
