Each year 1.5 million people in China need an organ transplant, but no one wants to donate. This was shown in a recent study reported by the Yangtse Evening Post. After one year, a pilot organ donation program in Nanjing City found zero volunteers.
The Feb. 24 piece in the Post said Nanjing was one of the ten cities chosen for the 2010 pilot because of its rapidly expanding population of 6.3 million. Not only were there no takers last year, but over the past 20 years there were only three voluntary donations, the article said.
Beijing Evening News also reported in August 2009: “According to incomplete statistics, since the first organ donations in 2003, there were only 131 organ donations from those who passed away between 2003 and May, 2009.”
Major Obstacle
The Yangtse Evening Post listed several examples to indicate that the major obstacles to organ donations are caused by traditional Chinese customs and mentality.
One example is a male migrant worker who died last October of a cerebral hemorrhage. The man’s organs were in good condition, but he had not consented to donate them, and the family was unavailable to give consent in time.
Red Cross experts in Jiangsu Province told Yangzi Evening News that with the American model, when applying for a driver’s license one can indicate one’s willingness to donate the body in case of sudden death. But long-held cultural mores make Chinese are unwilling to donate any part of their bodies. Car accidents are particularly taboo: asking questions about death and organ donation before getting a driver’s license is considered unlucky.
Another example raised in the report was a woman from the Yangzhou countryside who became sick and was willing to donate her organs. But her parents firmly opposed it and brought her body back to her hometown.
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