人體器官捐獻試點期將延長

在中國，每年有約150萬患者等待接受器官移植，卻只有1.3萬人能有幸實施手術，更多人在無望的等待中死亡。去年3月，衛生部與中國紅十字會在全國十餘個省市啓動了爲期一年的人體器官捐獻試點嘗試，旨在探索我國人體器官捐獻體系，緩解器官源稀缺。一年過去了，十個試點城市中通過試點捐獻體系完成器官移植手術的只有40多例，自願捐獻器官的志願者也只有100多位。衛生部副部長黃潔夫表示，人體器官捐獻試點期將延長半年，並將在兩年內對試點結果進行評估和反饋，隨後向全國推廣。

專家認爲，國內目前沒有一套完整的器官捐獻模式。發達國家的經驗表明：完整的器官捐獻體系包括國家器官移植管理體系、人體器官捐獻者登記系統、人體器官捐獻和分配體系、器官移植臨牀服務體系等多個部分。現實中，紅十字會器官捐獻工作存在很大侷限性。另外，由於沒有腦死亡立法，我國器官供體質量遠不如國外，其來源程序也在受干擾。目前全世界有89個國家和地區有腦死亡標準，一些國家還制定有《腦死亡法》。如果能在法律上確認腦死亡，器官移植醫學發展會更快，更多病人會受益。

Almost one year into its trial run, China's first voluntary organ donation system has facilitated only 40-odd organ transplant surgeries in 11 pilot regions on the mainland, said Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu. Meanwhile, more than 100 volunteers have donated organs through the system.

When the system goes nationwide, and given rising volunteerism in China, more people will donate organs after death to help save those who would die without a transplant, Huang, also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told China Daily on the sidelines of the ongoing "Two Sessions."

"The trial run by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health will be extended by half a year in pilot areas. After assessment and revision, it's expected to go nationwide in two years," said Huang, also an Australia-trained liver transplant expert.

Given the practical situation and social conventions here, all practitioners should use cardiac death as a standard definition of death for donations, adding that donations after cardiac death fit best into China's current situation where the understanding of brain death among the public and even medical workers remains poor.

Organ transplant surgeons in China have long called for brain-death legislation, arguing brain-death donation could secure high-quality organ donations for transplants.

"A lack of brain-death legislation, which in truth is not necessarily related to organ donation and transplant, should not hamper the promotion of organ donation," Huang refuted.

Performed in a proper way, donations after cardiac death can also meet the demand of transplants, said Huang's latest academic article to be published soon by the Lancet, a world-leading medical journal.

When the public is capable of understanding concepts such as brain death, euthanasia and vegetative states, "they will be allowed to choose between the two criteria," he added.

China now has 163 hospitals nationwide authorized by the ministry to perform organ transplants.

"We'll add 10 new ones to the list soon who have to strictly adhere to the cardiac death standard," he said.

Currently, about 10,000 organ transplants are performed each year on the Chinese mainland. It is estimated that around 1.3 million people are waiting for a transplant, largely due to the shortage of donated organs.