Professor Chen Zhu, Vice Chair of the National People’s Congress;
Professor Huang Jiefu, Director of the Chinese Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee;
Professor Luo Jun, President of Sun Yat-sen University;
Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a pleasure and an honour to be here today with you to establish the China National Organ Procurement Organisation.
This bold move marks the start of a new era in organ donation and transplantation in China.
In December 2014 the National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee declared a complete eradication of the use of death-row inmates organs for transplantation.
This landmark decision paves a way for China to build a transplantation system based on voluntary community-based deceased organ donation as the only legitimate organ source for deceased organ transplantation in China.
I would like pay tribute to the tireless work of my friend and colleague Professor Huang Jiefu for his leadership on this issue.
In China — as in most countries — access to organs remains extremely limited.
China has made progress in increasing the number of organ donations.
But demand is still much greater than supply. And that gap will grow as the number of people with end-stage noncommunicable diseases increases.
To close this gap, there is a need to provide the opportunity to donate organs after death in as many circumstances as possible.
But there are many challenges when dealing with medical products of human origin — as they are known.
While human cells, tissues and organs for transplantation have the power to save lives or restore essential functions, they also carry the risk of disease transmission.
This risk must be controlled by stringent regulation of donor and transplant activities, as well as quality system to ensure safety. To that end, the World Health Assembly endorsed the WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation in May 2010.
The principles clearly outlined an ethical framework for the acquisition and transplantation of human cells, tissues and organs for therapeutic purposes.
A high priority is placed on transparent and accountable systems for donations, ethical rules for allocation, and systems to ensure the safety and quality of cells, tissues and organs for transplantation.
Indeed, these are also important items to consider in your discussions.
Again, I thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important meeting of the China National Organ Procurement Organisation Alliance.
I wish the Alliance great success as you work to take transplantation in China to a new level with the highest and most transparent ethical standards.
As always, WHO is ready to assist in any way we can.