It was announced yesterday that China will stop the practice of harvesting the organs of executed prisoners for use in organ donations. Many are skeptical that the practice will actually stop due to corruption and how profitable the sale of organs is. Additionally, there are concerns that there will not be enough organ donations to meet the need for organ transplants, due to cultural norms and concerns over the organs being sold on the black market. Only 1,448 individuals donated organs through China’s voluntary donation scheme between 2010 and 2013. The annual need for organ donations is roughly 300,000 individuals.
See Katie Hunt, Why China Will Struggle to End Organ Harvesting From Executed Prisoners, CNN, Dec. 5, 2014.
