China Plans To End Executed Prisoner Organ Donations Within 5 Years 214
An anonymous reader writes "China said that it planned to end the practice of taking organs from executed prisoners within five years, according to the state media report on Friday. Instead, China's vice minister of health Dr. Huang Jiefu said that the country will rely on a new national donation system for organ transplants at a conference in the city of Hangzhou on Thursday."
Re:first the shutdown of the banned terms (Score:4, Informative)
on the firewall of china, then the closure of a controversial forced organ donation program. hm....
the optomistic me says china has finally decided to become a socialist democracy like switzerland. full healthcare for the masses, equal job for equal pay, clean air and fresh water and heck even a pound of tea and a stockpot of porkbelly for everyone. who needs the american trade model, lets cash in and build a better tomorrow for us all!
but seriously this is probably a controlled set of government reform actions designed to bolster trust and confidence in the chinese people. The party is largely viewed as a corrupt capitalist dictatorship, and has been the target of an escalating number of street protests recently.
TFA says the announcement wasn't linked to ethical concerns, but only to health concerns - high rates of fungus and bacterial infections in prisoners are causing problems for the recipients.
Re:sure... (Score:5, Informative)
And that Sir, is where you get the moral problem.
Execution methods make a difference, as well... (Score:5, Informative)
In the US, the execution techniques usually used would leave the organs unsuitable for re-use. They would either be saturated with toxins (lethal injection) or cooked (electric chair).
In China, the usual method of execution is a bullet into the back of the head.
Re:sure... (Score:4, Informative)
Nobody in China wants to donate, because of cultural reasons (they are selfish? they think it's "icky"? they don't trust doctors? it's not really Buddhist? no idea).
In traditional Chinese culture, it is important to preserve the body whole for the afterlife. I think the belief is that any deficiency is passed over to the afterlife.
Re:why ? (Score:5, Informative)
Because this is China.
Executable offensives include: political dissent, terrorism, drug dealing, child pornography, being of the wrong religous groups, the usual laundry list.
Where it gets exciting is when they send doctors to determine your blood type to decide if you've committed an executable offense [weeklystandard.com].
Re:sure... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:sure... (Score:3, Informative)