In Strasbourg on 22nd April, I listened to a lunchtime talk given by the World Medicine Association. The WMA, founded in 1947 and based in Geneva, represents all the doctors of the world and concentrates on “medical ethics”.
China was a founder member of the WMA in 1947 but soon left when its own internal health service was abolished. They reapplied in 1997.
Amnesty International has often reported and China confirmed in 2006, that China is taking organs from executed prisoners. Previously whenever China was asked to comment on this, they replied that they first wanted to talk about Taiwan’s membership. They justified taking organs from dead prisoners by insisting that capital punishment is essential in China and that removing a victim’s organs “is their last atonement.” National European governments have been very weak in discussing this problem with China, as they are with every “difficult” subject which might put at risk their lucrative business contracts with China. But the European Parliament has been strong – over Tibet and over other human rights issues and must remain so.
Now, significantly, the Chinese attitude appears to be changing, and not just because of the Olympic Games in Beijing later this summer. China needs the outside world – to publicise its achievements, because it wants to be recognised as the best at transplanting organs, and because there is money to be made from rich outsiders flying to China to receive transplants.
China has no medical health service for its citizens except along its east coast. It has a hepatitis epidemic – to which transplants are not the solution but needs a large-scale protection programme.
