The program, to be run by China’s Health Ministry in collaboration with Red Cross Society, will maintain a data base, stipulating organ donation by donors after their death.
Promising to crackdown the murky donation business, the program will be “in line with the national conditions and international ethics", stated China’s Deputy Health Minister Huang Jiefu.
The system will be started as a pilot project in 10 provinces and cities, including city of Shanghai and the southern region of Guangdong.
Huge shortage of organ donors
According to statistics by the government, out of about 1 million people in need of an organ transplants, only 10,000 receive them.
The scarcity of organs for transplants has resulted in a thriving black market. The Chinese government had passed a law in 2007 to ban trafficking of organs but without much avail.
A Beijing doctor can expect to make 30,000 yuan (£2,700) for carrying out an "illegal" transplant, according to a dealer, Li Zhe, who was interviewed by state-run Global Times newspaper.
"If there are available matching organs for patients, trading can start immediately, I'll take care of all the procedures," he told the paper. "A single case costs as much as 200,000 yuan (£18,000) for a patient who needs a kidney transplant."
The human right groups have often criticized China for lack of transparency in dealing with organ donations.
With the program in place, Huang said, "This system is in the public interest and will benefit patients regardless of social status and wealth in terms of fairness in organ allocation and better procurement."
Prisoners the primary source of transplants
The newly launched program will also reduce dependence on prisoners as the main source of organs for transplants.
In a rare admission of the practice, China Daily, a state run newspaper, stated that 65 percent of organ donors were death row prisoners.
Though china has never publically reported execution figure, according to the estimates by Amnesty International, 1718 prisoners were executed in 2008.
Before being executed, the prisoners undergo extensive blood tests, are inoculated to restrain blood clotting and given other treatments for a successful transplants. After execution, the bodies are usually stripped of all important organs like cornea, liver kidney etc.
Though prisoners give their approval, Nicholas Bequelin, researcher for Human Rights Watch said, "We don't believe those who sign are in a position to give free and informed consent".
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