Statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Health show that each year nearly 1.5 million Chinese patients require organ transplants, but only 10,000 operations are made due to a severe shortage of donors.
To tackle the issue, Vice Minister of Health Huang Jiefu expressed hope that a formal system of organ donation could be set up within three to five years, a move that would decrease reliance on organs from those given the death penalty.
Bioethics researcher with the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Qiu Renzong believes that the government's heavy reliance on the organs from criminals in transplant surgeries restricts it from exploring better, and more reasonable, options for organs that can be used for transplants.
