The legal and ethical mire of organ supplying
- Source: Global Times
- [00:58 August 25 2009]
- Comments
When it comes to matters of preserving life, the boundaries of justice are often difficult to draw.
A front-page story in the Global Times’ Monday edition detailed how the organ trafficking business took shape in China and how it has started to expand, now involving crimes like kidnapping and murder. The huge gap between organ demand and supply has created a lucrative, under-regulated organ trafficking market.
This black market must be cracked down on. It is reported that some “kidney trading” companies maintain a number of potential donors, many of whom are financially desperate and coerced into giving up their organs, allowing the brokers to offer kidneys at any time in response to market demand.
But while the media is leading a justified public opinion campaign against illegal organ trading, those who are at the receiving end of the harvested organs do not think so. We cannot ignore the dilemma of a large number of patients who are languishing endlessly while waiting for a donated organ.
Transplant organs are in short supply worldwide, and in China the situation is particularly distressing. More than 1.5 million patients in China need organ transplants each year, but only around 11,000 can receive donated organs.
Organ donation by the deceased, an important source of organs, is not an idea embraced by many Chinese. Donation by family members is limited too due to health concerns and a low compatibility rate.
Organs from executed convicts, another major source, is dropping quickly ever since death penalty review authority was rescinded by the Supreme People’s Court two years ago.
The black market for organs, ironically, has been functioning efficiently as a channel between demand and supply. While waiting for a legally donated organ often takes a few years, organ dealers can arrange the whole process, from meeting a donor to performing surgery, in less than one month.
The current legal framework regarding organ trafficking in China, the Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation passed in 2007, sought to stop organ trading by restricting living organ donation to spouses or close relatives. But the rule was basically disregarded as organ traders can supply a whole set of necessary legal documents in a few days.
It disappointed us more when media outlets broke the story that some donors had been barred from giving their organs because it couldn’t be verified that they were family members of the intended recipients.
Organs are not an ordinary commodity, and we do not support a free organ market. But the existence of an extensive, black market organ supply chain suggests the necessity of creating a well-regulated, efficient system that connects donors and patients.
The price of life weighs more heavily than administrative concerns.
