Beijing – The Chinese government imposed new restrictions Tuesday on organ transplants for foreigners, saying Chinese citizens should get priority when organs become available.
The regulations, handed down by the Health Ministry, stipulated that foreigners visiting China on tourist visas cannot receive transplants, hospitals cannot advertise abroad and any hospital planning to carry out a transplant on a foreign patient must first receive authorization from Chinese health authorities.
The tightening, which complemented a broader set of regulations that went into force May 1, was part of an effort to curtail widely reported abuses such as selling organs and, in some hospitals, turning transplants into a business by catering to foreigners looking for cut-rate hearts, livers and kidneys.
“Chinese citizens, including those from Hong Kong and Macau and Taiwanese permanent residents in China, should get priority in organ transplants,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Chinese health officials have estimated that up to 1.5 million Chinese could benefit from transplants each year but only about 10,000 can find compatible organs. The number of foreigners who receive transplanted organs in China has not been revealed. But some hospitals have launched advertising campaigns on the Internet to draw in foreigners, who often would face longer waits and higher prices in their own countries.
Transplants have long been a controversial issue in China. Some charge that organs are more plentiful here than abroad because they are often harvested from executed prisoners.
Chinese officials have acknowledged that some organs used for transplants come from executed prisoners, but they say the number of such cases is low and that advance authorization is required.
