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Death Penalty Information
Monday, October 30, 2006
Organ transplants in China are "crime against humanity"
CHINA:
Doctors: Transplants in China are crime against humanity
Senior transplant surgeons in Israel call on citizens to stop traveling to
China for transplant surgeries, say 90 percent of organs taken from death
row prisoners without consent
Senior Israeli transplant surgeons call on Israeli patients to stop
traveling to China for the purpose of undergoing transplant surgery, and
demand that authorities find an appropriate solution for expanding the
organ reserve stock in Israel.
Israel has had a significant shortage of organs available for transplant
for many years, and waiting lists continue to get longer and longer.
The number of organ donors in Israel is very low and stands at less than
10 donors a year for every million people in the population, as opposed to
15-30 donors per million in Europe and the United States. This results in
more than half of Israeli patients awaiting transplants to go abroad for
their transplant surgeries, mostly to China.
In a special survey which was to be published this week in the medical
journal "Harefua", director of the heart transplant unit at Sheba Medical
Center Dr. Jacob Lavee spoke against the transplants performed in China
and defined them as "crimes against humanity".
The reason for his condemnation of the surgeries was that about 90 % of
the transplanted organs in China were taken from prisoners on death row
without their consent.
'Organs removed while prisoner was alive'
The article quoted Dr. Wang Guayoki, a Chinese doctor who escaped China
and sought political refuge in the United States. He described before a
committee of the House of Representatives how he removed skin and corneas
from the bodies of over 100 prisoners who were executed in Chinese
prisons.
He explained that the "donors" receive a special injection which prevents
their blood from clotting and aids in preserving their organs. The
execution team shoots the prisoners in the head while a medical staff
stands by in order to remove the organs meant for transplants.
Dr. Guayoki recounted a particularly shocking case where kidneys were
removed from a prisoner while he was still alive due to a faulty
execution. Other testimonies brought before congress confirmed other such
cases.
In recent months, Israel's Health Ministry ordered HMO's to ensure that
transplants performed abroad were only done at accredited institutions.
Concurrently, China's Health Minister announced that buying and selling of
organs was not permitted, and that all organ donations be consented by the
donor.
Still, doctors say that Israeli patients continue to travel to China in
search of new organs.
"It goes without saying that the distress of patients in Israel waiting
for transplants is great, but one's distress doesn't justify committing a
crime on another," Dr. Lavee said.
(source: Ynetnews)
Doctors: Transplants in China are crime against humanity
Senior transplant surgeons in Israel call on citizens to stop traveling to
China for transplant surgeries, say 90 percent of organs taken from death
row prisoners without consent
Senior Israeli transplant surgeons call on Israeli patients to stop
traveling to China for the purpose of undergoing transplant surgery, and
demand that authorities find an appropriate solution for expanding the
organ reserve stock in Israel.
Israel has had a significant shortage of organs available for transplant
for many years, and waiting lists continue to get longer and longer.
The number of organ donors in Israel is very low and stands at less than
10 donors a year for every million people in the population, as opposed to
15-30 donors per million in Europe and the United States. This results in
more than half of Israeli patients awaiting transplants to go abroad for
their transplant surgeries, mostly to China.
In a special survey which was to be published this week in the medical
journal "Harefua", director of the heart transplant unit at Sheba Medical
Center Dr. Jacob Lavee spoke against the transplants performed in China
and defined them as "crimes against humanity".
The reason for his condemnation of the surgeries was that about 90 % of
the transplanted organs in China were taken from prisoners on death row
without their consent.
'Organs removed while prisoner was alive'
The article quoted Dr. Wang Guayoki, a Chinese doctor who escaped China
and sought political refuge in the United States. He described before a
committee of the House of Representatives how he removed skin and corneas
from the bodies of over 100 prisoners who were executed in Chinese
prisons.
He explained that the "donors" receive a special injection which prevents
their blood from clotting and aids in preserving their organs. The
execution team shoots the prisoners in the head while a medical staff
stands by in order to remove the organs meant for transplants.
Dr. Guayoki recounted a particularly shocking case where kidneys were
removed from a prisoner while he was still alive due to a faulty
execution. Other testimonies brought before congress confirmed other such
cases.
In recent months, Israel's Health Ministry ordered HMO's to ensure that
transplants performed abroad were only done at accredited institutions.
Concurrently, China's Health Minister announced that buying and selling of
organs was not permitted, and that all organ donations be consented by the
donor.
Still, doctors say that Israeli patients continue to travel to China in
search of new organs.
"It goes without saying that the distress of patients in Israel waiting
for transplants is great, but one's distress doesn't justify committing a
crime on another," Dr. Lavee said.
(source: Ynetnews)
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