Ministry of Health = Ministry of Health of China?

Context:
Internationally accepted ethical standards are unequiv-
ocal in their prohibition of the use of organs recovered
from executed prisoners: yet this practice continues in
China despite indications that Ministry of Health of-
ficials intend to end this abhorrent practice. Recently
published articles on this topic emphasize the medi-
calcomplicationsthatresultfromlivertransplantation
from executed ‘donors’ but scant attention is given to
thesourceoftheorgans,raisingconcernthatthetrans-
plant community may be coming inured to unaccept-
able practice. Strategies to influence positive change
inorgandonationpracticeinChinabytheinternational
transplant community are discussed. They include an
absolutistpolicywherebynoclinicaldatafromChinais
deemed acceptable until unacceptable donation prac-
tices end, and an incremental policy whereby clinical
data is carefully evaluated for acceptability. The rela-
tive advantages and drawbacks of these strategies are
discussed together with some practical suggestions
forresponseavailabletoindividualsandthetransplant
community.
Key words: Organ donation, public policy, transplant,
transplant ethics