CHINA: China's health ministry banned the sale of human organs yesterday in a move that could put pressure on the growing "transplant tourism" industry.
According to tour operators, foreigners have been paying tens of thousands of dollars for life-saving operations in China, where livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs are harvested from executed prisoners. But accusations that the practice is unethical have prompted the government to tighten regulations.
Under new guidelines, the buying and selling of organs is forbidden. No organs can be removed without the written permission of the donor, and only a handful of top medical institutions will be authorised to carry out transplants. Industry insiders say hospitals have been instructed not to accept foreign patients. The rules are unlikely to ease the concerns of human rights groups, which say prisoners have little choice but to donate their organs. Hospitals may also be unwilling to give up a major source of revenue.
According to the Chinese Society of Transplantation, about 5,000 kidney transplants and 1,500 liver transplants were carried out in 2003, but this is thought to be an underestimate.
Yeson Healthcare Services in Shanghai began accepting overseas business in 2001. It charges a minimum of $110,000 for a liver or heart transplant and $60,000 for a kidney transplant.
Last year, the company arranged more than 400 heart, liver or kidney transplant operations, many of them for non-Chinese.