Transplant System to go national - China

China Daily News | Shan Juan

BEIJING - China's organ donation system will be extended nationwide starting this year, said Huang Jiefu, deputy minister of health, on Thursday.

Currently, the trial system launched by the ministry and the Red Cross Society of China in 2009 is operating in 16 regions and is helping ease a severe shortage of organ donations for transplant, Huang said.

He said that 163 people had donated organs by the end of 2011.

An aid policy for donors' families would also soon be issued but "definitely not in the form of cash payment", Huang added.

Meanwhile, a nationwide organ allocation system started last April is connecting all organ procurement organizations and transplant hospitals on the mainland.

Under the system, patients waiting for a transplant can ask the doctor to put them on a waiting list, which helps ensure a proper and fair allocation of organ donations, said Wang Ping, director of the relief and health department at the Red Cross Society of China, which co-runs the system with the Ministry of Health.

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