China has formally banned trading in human organs state media reported last week amid ongoing allegations that the nation is heavily involved in harvesting body parts from executed prisoners.The regulations, issued by China's cabinet, prohibit all organizations and individuals from trading human organs in any form.
Any doctor found to be involved in such activities will have their licenses revoked, while clinics or hospitals will be suspended from doing organ transplant operations for at least three years.
Fines have been set at between eight to ten times the value of the outlawed trade and officials convicted of trading in human organs will be sacked and kicked out of the government.
International human rights groups have long accused China of harvesting organs from executed prisoners for transplant without the consent of the prisoner or his or her family. Hospitals have also been regularly accused of secretly taking organs from accident victims
The government has denied such charges, saying most organs are voluntarily donated by ordinary citizens and executed criminals who gave consent before their deaths.
Foreign patients facing a shortage of compatible organs in their home countries have flocked to China where organs are more plentiful and the surgical costs cheaper. China is the world's second largest performer of transplants after the United States.
Source: China bans trade in human organs - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070502/hl_afp/healthchinatransplant_070502145531
