Organ Donation in China:Looking Within, Rather than Looking West / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

Organ donation policy changes often seek to increase organ donation rates in an attempt to close the gap between the number of organs available for transplantation and the demand for transplantable organs. The ex-traordinary gap between the number of organs donated from deceased donors and the number of people awaiting transplantation in China has left Chinese policy-makers looking for alternatives. In developing organ donation poli-cies and practices, China should avoid ethical problems that exist in the US system and in other Western approa-ches to organ donation. Despite their higher donation rates, these Western systems would be inappropriate for China because they do not reflect Chinese cultural values. There also are practical considerations that make it unlikely that adopting Western approaches to organ donation would translate into higher donation rates in China. Instead of looking to the West, China should look within to its rich cultural resources as it develops organ donation policies and implements new practices.