Local hospitals join organ donation platform
Two local hospitals became among the first in Shanghai to connect with an organ donation registration platform, officials announced at the Oriental Congress of Organ Transplant in Shanghai on Saturday.
Those who register at Zhongshan Hospital and Renji Hospital can access "Love & Hope," which allows online registration and connects with the official China Organ Donation Administrative Center.
The center now has about 1.7 million registered donors, including 1.2 million through "Love & Hope."
The two hospitals each donated 1 million yuan (US$142,857) to the foundation.
Dr Fan Jia, president of Zhongshan Hospital, said all ten top officials of his hospital had signed up to donate organs.
“We will also promote the platform among other medical facilities in the Zhongshan network to encourage more people to join in,” he said.
Transplants are often the only hope for patients with terminal organ failure. Apart from organs donated by live family members, those donated voluntarily by people after death have been the only legal source since 2015 after China stopped to harvest organs from executed prisoners.
Though donation has grown quickly, there is a huge shortage of organs and only a small number of hospitals are qualified for transplants. There are only 11 hospitals in Shanghai that can carry out major organ transplants.