3 Nov 2013

China to halt prisoner organ transplants

7:50 am on 3 November 2013

A senior Chinese official says China plans to stop taking organs from executed prisoners for use in transplant operations.

Huang Jiefu, who is a former deputy health minister, says the controversial practice will end by the middle of next year.

All hospitals licensed for organ transplants will be required to stop using organs from executed prisoners and use only those voluntarily donated and allocated through a national system, Reuters reports.

The supply of human organs falls far short of demand in China due in part to a traditional belief that bodies should be buried or cremated intact.

An estimated 300,000 patients are wait-listed every year for organ transplants and only about one in 30 ultimately receives one.