International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantations (ISHLT)

The ISHLT published published a statement on April 26, 2022, urging members not to participate in or support transplantation of organs from executed prisoners.

Excerpts of the statement are provided below:

The donation of organs from a deceased patient must always be made freely and without coercion.

The sale of organs from both live and deceased donors is unethical and violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ISHLT members should discourage patients from seeking transplantation in countries where transplantation is not open to external scrutiny and the ethical standards of the ISHLT cannot be assured, regardless of whether payment for organs is involved. ISHLT members should work with their own governments to ensure that such ‘transplant tourism’ that contravenes these ethical principles is made illegal.

Members of the ISHLT should also refrain from knowingly teaching visiting physicians the art and science of heart and lung transplantation if it cannot be ascertained and guaranteed that those to be trained will not use their newly acquired knowledge for transplants based on organs from executed prisoners or any other transplant related crime.

Submission of data related to clinical transplantation or the use of human tissue for presentation at an ISHLT sponsored meeting, to the ISHLT Thoracic Registry or for publication in an ISHLT sponsored journal including the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation signifies that the author (s) agree with and confirm that their study adheres to the principles of the World Medical Association Statement on Organ and Tissue Donation, the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Declaration of Istanbul. These affirmations are required at the time of submission and must be explicitly included in any presentation or manuscript.

Given the body of evidence that the government of the People’s Republic of China stands alone in continuing to systematically support the procurement of organs or tissue from executed prisoners, 7-10 submissions related to transplantation and involving either organs or tissue from human donors in the People’s Republic of China will not be accepted by ISHLT for the purposes listed above. This policy, including whether other countries systematically engage in the use of organs or tissue from non-consenting human donors and should be subject to this restriction, will be reviewed on an annual basis pending independently obtained proof that these practices have ceased.

The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Statement on Transplant Ethics was originally approved by the ISHLT Board of Directors 28 April 2007. The Statement was updated and approved by the ISHLT Board of Directors on 19 October 2014. The Statement published here was updated by the ISHLT Committee on Transplant Ethics and approved by the Board of Directors 26 April 2022.

Source: International society for heart and lung transplantation statement on transplant ethics

American Public Health Association (APHA)

APHA issued a policy statement in 2020 that calls on professional associations to educate medical practitioners on facts and guidelines with regard to transplant tourism and unethical organ sourcing in other countries.

Specifically, APHA urges:

  1. National governments to prohibit travel to other countries for the purpose of receiving organ transplants from illegal or unidentified sources and to prohibit financial reimbursement by insurance companies for such transplants and postoperative care.
  2. Heads of state and national legislatures to issue public statements to call upon the Chinese government to end the sourcing of organs from prisoners of conscience and to allow international investigators to conduct independent inspections of transplant facilities, registry data, and organ donation records.
  3. The United States to seek the inclusion of organ transplant abuse involving prisoners of conscience in China in organ trafficking resolutions of the United Nations and the European Union to urge member states to adopt legislation consistent with the Declaration of Istanbul.
  4. The U.S. Department of State to recommend sanctions for individuals involved in the harvesting of organs or tissues from prisoners of conscience or other involuntary donors.
  5. Governments and private organizations to fund research on the prevalence of unethical organ transplantation in China and the involvement of international institutions in illicit transplants.
  6. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients to collect more comprehensive and accurate statistics on cases in which patients at U.S. transplant centers receive a transplant in a foreign country.
  7. Medical schools, continuing education programs, and professional associations to educate medical professionals on facts and guidelines with regard to transplant tourism and unethical organ sourcing in other countries.
  8. The U.S. Congress to authorize funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support education and awareness initiatives informing the public of the medical, ethical, and legal risks of traveling abroad for an organ transplant.
  9. Health care providers to educate potential transplant recipients on the medical, ethical, and legal risks of traveling abroad to receive an organ transplant, including known cases of governments engaging in organ procurement from executed prisoners and/or prisoners of conscience.
  10. Medical and academic institutions and associations to condition collaboration with Chinese transplant programs, as well as hosting of speakers presenting transplant research from China, on more stringent monitoring and enforcement of ethics standards.
  11. International organizations including the United Nations and the World Health Organization to facilitate independent investigations into organ procurement practices in China.

Source: Building a Public Health Response to Organ Transplant Abuse in China

Liver International Journal

The journal Liver International retracted a Chinese study on liver transplantation after its authors failed to convince editors that the 564 livers used in the research were not taken from executed prisoners.

The authors, including Zheng Shusen from Zhejiang University, China, now face a lifetime publishing embargo in the journal.

Zheng Shusen is a Chinese engineer and surgeon. He is a liver transplant expert who is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University. He is internationally known for his studies on organ transplantation and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery.

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