Australian transplant surgeons Several surgeons from the “The intended recipient is actively Spokesperson for The The statement from TSANZ is in line with the British and International Transplantation Professor Macdonald, who is joint head of the transplant programme Professor Steven Lynch, Director of the Liver Transplant Unit at Professor Lynch explained “Whenever we had a request [from China for transplant training] “I think it was only three of those who could
Professor Lynch said it was not until he was a guest lecturer at the Tianjin transplant “I asked them what proportion While the Chinese communist regime tells Western medical authorities that “It is an ethical problem. When it is run by the state Professor Lynch said he had given a lot “The problems lie in the ethical practices Professor George Javorsky, who runs the Professor Javorsky wondered why, after Apart Before the crackdown on Falun Gong began in 1999, there were an estimated Mr. Deller Although “It is very hard to Mr. Deller said. “The “What concerns “There are other camps that have Amnesty International estimates A report in The Sydney Morning However these figures pertain to domestic Certainly there seems to be no One site for Mr. Deller said the Falun Gong community had been active worldwide “Our concern is “It is shocking information, but that is what we believe is happening,
Prison inmates are given instructions from a police officer. Leading
Australian transplant surgeons have condemned the practice of harvesting organs
from executed prisoners.
have confirmed that organs from executed prisoners are used for transplants in
China and have publicly condemned the practice.
heart, lung, liver and kidney transplant units in Brisbane told The Epoch Times,
it was common knowledge that there was virtually no waiting list in China because
organs came from prisoners on death row.
matched with the donor while the donor is still alive,” one doctor said, adding
that the practice “is abhorrent to our way of life.”
Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), Professor Peter
Macdonald, said their members were unreservedly “against the use of organs and
tissues from executed prisoners for the purposes of therapeutic transplantation.”
Societies, who recently issued public statements condemning the Chinese organ
trade.
at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, said he had no specific knowledge of
the practice in China other than what he had been told by colleagues, but that
he, and TSANZ members, were united in their opposition because “it is an unethical
practice.”
Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, said there was “No doubt that there are
huge numbers of executed prisoners being organ donors.”
that Princess Alexandra Hospital has a training facility for international transplant
surgeons and that, over the years, he had received around 60 applications from
Chinese students.
the standard reply was that you have to come self funded, you have to come with
a letter from your hospital and the equivalent of the local premier or provincial
leader, to say that none of the skills you would learn would be used to transplant
organs from executed prisoners.
provide that reassurance and the rest of them, I never heard another word.”
hospital in China that he fully understood why.
of the donors are executed compared to the brain dead and they said it was illegal
to use brain dead donors in China, so virtually all of them are executed prisoners.”
all executed prisoners have signed consent forms, Professor Lynch said there was
never any mention of documentation showing informed consent from the medical staff
at Tianjin Hospital.
it becomes like 'the ultimate tax.' Once dead, the body is not yours
to give but the states to decide.”
of thought to the issue and felt that the fault lay with the Chinese communist
regime rather than the doctors.
of the Chinese Government rather than the doctors who are working very hard, legally,
within the government requirements.”
heart transplantation unit at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, also condemned
the practice saying it was “horrific” to consider that prisoners of any sort,
let alone those who may be there for their spiritual or political beliefs, would
be used as donors against their will.
so many years, the organ trade in China was suddenly in the public eye.
from China's growing economic power, John Deller, President of the New South
Wales Falun Dafa Association, says he believes it is because thousands of Falun
Gong practitioners held in detention throughout China have been executed for their
organs.
70-100 million Chinese practising the spiritual discipline which involves Tai
Chi-like exercises, meditation and adherence to moral principles.
explained that after the persecution began, practitioners were forced from their
homes, their families and their businesses and thrown into labour camps.
information about what goes on in China is difficult to obtain, Mr. Deller said
that through the Chinese Falun Gong community in Australia, they know that thousands
of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners have disappeared.
verify just how many practitioners have been detained,”
figures can vary from anywhere between 200,000 to 2 million.”
us is an amazing number of practitioners who are still hidden away and who are
not necessarily in the known labour camps.
been set up, based on the information we have received, and it is clear that the
number of operations for organ transplants from websites and third parties far
exceed the numbers of executed prisoners.”
there were 1,770 executions in China last year but add that figures were based
on “public reports” and that “official national statistics on the application
of the death penalty remain classified” in China.
Herald indicated that the Chinese government claims around 20,000 kidney transplants
are conducted in China annually.
transplants only and do not include operations for foreigners, which implies that
there are many more transplants occurring.
shortage of organs available. The Internet highlights many English language websites
touting for foreigners to visit China for organ transplants.
the China International Transplantation Network Assistance Centre starts its spiel
with the line “Viscera providers can be found immediately” and claims “it is more
safe and reliable here than in other countries, where the organ is not from a
living donor.”
to draw attention to the flourishing organ trade in China.
that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are being kept there as organ
banks.
and really hope that those who are concerned about human rights will expose these
things and go into China to investigate.”
Posting
date: 3/May/2006
Original article date: 30/April/2006
Category: Media
Reports
