Large gap in demand for organ transplantation in China

Organ transplants are not very familiar to us. After studying at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Hangzhou Dianzi University, Zhou Xinxin, a junior in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, suddenly collapsed and had a heartbeat and respiratory arrest half a month ago. The hospital was rescued for 11 days, and no miracle occurred. The university’s 21-year-old college student was declared brain failure and his life was irreversible. After hearing the bad news, Zhou Xinxin's parents were saddened, but then they made an admirable move: after the death of her daughter, she donated all the useful organs on her body.

On December 9, Zhou Xinxin left the world and donated the liver and two corneas. The liver was immediately transplanted to Zhang Ming and her recovery was good. Two corneas bring light to two people.

"My daughter often tells me to be a caring person. I think this is her wish," said Zhou Xinxin's mother. "It feels like my daughter is still alive."

Zhou Xinxin is the first university student in Zhejiang Province to donate organs. According to statistics from the Human Organ Donation Office of Zhejiang Province, starting donations in August 2010, 67 people in Zhejiang Province have donated their organs after their death. Among them, there were 13 human organ donors in 2011 and 52 in 2012.

“Everyone is gradually accepting the donation of human organs after death, and see it as a continuation of life,” said Cao Yanfang, a staff member responsible for organ donor coordination.

In China, where body preservation is a practice, organ donation has not been recognized, and citizens rarely contribute voluntarily. However, in recent years, more and more people have accepted this behavior as people’s concepts have opened up. Moreover, organ donation has also won the respect of the community.

In March 2010, China launched a pilot project for donation of human organs, and called for relying on voluntary organs donated by citizens to support organ transplant surgery. The pilot cities and provinces have reached 16 in succession. According to statistics from the Chinese Red Cross Society, by November 30th, Chinese citizens had voluntarily donated human organs and completed 513 cases, donating 1385 large organs, and more than 1,000 dying lives were saved.

But in China, the gap in organ demand is still huge. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health, the number of people waiting for organ transplants is about 1.5 million every year, and only about 10,000 people can get transplants.