China bans organ trading

China announced it will add stricter regulations to organ donation in an effort to promote higher ethnical and medical standards in a field plagued by commerical and foreign favoritism, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

About 10,000 transplant operations are performed in China each year, which is second to the United States. And what has become a lucrative industry in China, organ transplants are requested by patients from rich nations such as the U.S., Japan and Israel, which has arguably in turn taken organ transplant opportunities away from needy Chinese patients.

In response to the criticisim, China's State Council issued new changes to organ transplants that will go into effect May 1: "all organ donations in China must be voluntary and approved by doctors and that trade in human organs is forbidden."

These regulations are more formalized and grant greater authority than changes announced by China's Ministry of Health in March 2006.