British surgeons yesterday condemned the use of executed prisoners' organs for transplants in China, saying that shortages in the UK were tempting British patients to travel despite the grave ethical issues involved.
The British Transplantation Society said that "an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the organs of executed prisoners are being removed for transplantation without the prior consent of either the prisoner or their family".
Thousands of organs are thought to be involved in the lucrative trade, it said. Transplant centres, patients, and the Chinese authorities and judiciary could all be implicated in a breach of human rights.
"The British Transplantation Society condemns unreservedly any activity that transgresses an individual's human rights or involves the coercion of an individual to become an organ donor," said Stephen Wigmore, chairman of its ethics committee. "The alleged use of organs from executed prisoners without consent is considered a breach of human rights and is an unacceptable practice. A reported close relationship between transplant units and the authorities regulating executions and the availability of organs is unethical."
He added: "The alleged sale of organs derived from executed prisoners for financial gain is a lamentable practice.
"Aware also of the burden of human suffering that flows from the worldwide shortages of ethically acceptable organs, any act that risks calling the practice of transplantation into disrepute is to be regretted."
Prof Wigmore said he and his colleagues all knew of patients who had researched the possibility of going to China for transplants.
Two patients at Prof Wigmore's unit in Edinburgh had considered going to China, he said. "One was advised to stay here by the Chinese hospital he approached in Shanghai. The other decided against it for a mixture of ethical and personal reasons," he said.
But evidence from doctors who have left China suggests that many patients are travelling for kidney or liver transplants, perhaps in desperation because of the shortages of donor organs in their own country. Most patients came from Japan and Korea and there were quite a few reports of Chinese Americans returning to China for their operation, he said.
Websites of Chinese transplant centres openly tout in English for business from foreigners. Although they do not suggest the organs come from executed prisoners, they offer a fast supply - between a week and a maximum of a month for a kidney transplant. One website declares: "Viscera providers can be found immediately!" The cost of a kidney transplant is put at $62,000 (£34,600), and a heart transplant at $140,000.
Prof Wigmore told BBC Radio 5 Live that the speed with which donors and patients were matched implied prisoners were being selected before execution. "The weight of evidence has accumulated to a point over the last few months where it's really incontrovertible in our opinion. We feel that it's the right time to take a stance against this practice."
There have been allegations from Falun Gong supporters that members of the banned organisation detained in a labour camp near Shenyang, where a transplant centre is situated, have been executed to provide organs to order.
In response to the growing concern, the Chinese government last month announced that it would ban the buying and selling of organs from July 1. Doctors would be forbidden to remove organs without the written permission of the donor and only a few top centres would be permitted to carry out the operations. But there are doubts in the international community as to whether the profitable trade will cease.
The British Transplantation Society statement "is not timed for any specific reason, but we hope it will inform doctors and patients in the UK about the potential risks of going to China for a transplant and the moral and ethical dilemmas they might not be aware of," said Prof Wigmore. He hoped it might also increase pressure on the Chinese authorities "to make sure these reforms do take effect".
Last September, the Guardian revealed that a Chinese cosmetics company was using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe. The report prompted the House of Commons health select committee to examine the regulatory system.
The shortfall
One in five people in the UK - more than 13 million - are signed up to donate their organs in the event of death, and yet there is a shortfall of organs available for transplant. More than 8,000 people need a transplant each year, but fewer than 3,000 can be carried out.
Part of the problem is the decreasing number of deaths among younger people, whose organs are most suitable. Seatbelt legislation brought about a steep drop.
Most patients will get their transplant in the end, but about 400 die on the waiting list every year. The biggest need is for kidneys - around 6,000 need a kidney transplant.
The phone number for registration on the donor database is 0845 6060400.
