Forty-five people sign documents saying they are willing to donate their organs after death, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in May. LIN YUNLONG/FOR CHINA DAILY Fairness is central goal as humans are barred from distribution decisions All donated organs for transplantation must be distributed through a unified computer platform to ensure fair and transparent distribution and traceability, under a regulation released on Monday by the National Health Commission. The regulation, which takes effect on March 1, bans any organization or individual from distributing donated organs on their own. Hospitals where transplant surgeries are performed should enter the information of all patients waiting for transplants into the China Organ Transplant Response System and keep it updated, the regulation said. Organ procurement organizations should get in touch with hospitals promptly after the system has sent notifications of available organs to make sure the information was received. Hospitals that have received notices should log on to the system within 30 minutes to check information regarding the organs and their donors, and reply within an hour whether to accept the organs for transplant. The hospitals should notify the procurement organizations immediately if they cannot do the transplant surgery after having received the organs. In that case, the organs will be redistributed. The transplant response system, supervised by health authorities at the provincial level or above, can automatically match donated organs with potential recipients and distribute organs based on defined principles, including urgency. Human input is removed to ensure fairness and transparency, Wang Haibo, who is in charge of the system, said in an earlier statement. Like many other countries, China's shortage of donated organs is a severe problem in the organ transplantation field. Every year about 300,000 patients with terminal diseases need transplants, but only about 20,000 surgeries can be done, Huang Jiefu, former vice-minister of health, said in an earlier interview. Organ donations in China have increased rapidly since 2015, when the authorities banned the use of organs retrieved from executed prisoners. That made voluntary donations the only legitimate source of organs. China has now become the second-largest country in number of annual organ transplant surgeries, next to the United States, according to the National Health Commission. As of the end of last year, the number of people who donated organs after death exceeded 21,000 in China, with more than 58,000 organs donated, the commission said. Chen Xinguo, director of the organ transplant center at the Armed Police Force General Hospital, said that in practice all organs used for transplant surgeries at the hospital are acquired through the electronic transplant response system. Although the system ensures fair and transparent distribution of donated organs, some problems remain, such as uneven quality of organs procured from different geographical areas, and the system's slow response time, which can hamper the process, he said. Previously major transplant centers would communicate with organ procurement organizations before the arrival of organs to ensure the organs are of high quality and can be used, he said. We hope all organs distributed are up to standard. Otherwise, substandard organs will cost lives and no doctor will use them. Now that distribution of organs through the China organ transplant response system is mandatory, it is necessary to constantly improve the system so it responds faster and hospitals can get the donated organs as soon as possible to prevent waste, Chen said. custom braceletsevent wristbandsembossed-wristbandcolor-filled-wristbandprinted-wristband
BEIJING - China is committed to properly protecting Arctic biodiversity and advocates transparent and reasonable exploration and utilization of Arctic genetic resources, and fair and equitable sharing and use of the benefits generated by the exploitation of such resources, said a white paper issued on Friday.As regards fishing in the high seas in the Arctic Ocean, China has consistently held a firm stance in favor of conservation in a scientific manner and of rational use, according the document titled China's Arctic Policy, issued by the State Council Information Office.China has always maintained that while enjoying their lawful right to conduct fisheries research and development in the high seas in the Arctic Ocean, all States should fulfill their obligations to conserve the fishery resources and the ecosystem in the region, said the paper.It also stressed China's support to formulate a legally binding international agreement on the management of fisheries in the high seas portion of the Arctic Ocean and to the establishment of an Arctic fisheries management organization or making other institutional arrangements based on the UNCLOS.China will strengthen survey on and research into the fishery resources in the high seas in the Arctic, carry out appropriate exploratory fishing, and play a constructive part in the management of fisheries in the high seas in the Arctic Ocean, said the white paper.China hopes to strengthen cooperation with the Arctic coastal States on the research, conservation, and utilization of fishery resources, according to the document.It also summarized China's position on the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources.China respects the sovereign rights of Arctic States over oil, gas and mineral resources in the areas subject to their jurisdiction in accordance with international law, and respects the interests and concerns of residents in the region, said the white paper.Chinese enterprises are encouraged to participate in the exploitation of oil, gas and mineral resources in the Arctic, through cooperation in various forms and on the condition of properly protecting the eco-environment of the Arctic.The white paper also highlighted clean energy cooperation to pursue low-carbon development.
