Chinese experience in organ transplantation appreciated at World Health Assembly

GENEVA - The ongoing 71st World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva on Thursday shows high appreciation for the value of China's model and experience in organ transplantation.

The WHA meetings focused on the universal coverage of organ transplantation, with delegates from China, Spain, Russia, Uruguay and Qatar sharing their experience and ideas on the topic.

Huang Jiefu, head of China's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and chairman of China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation, gave a keynote speech titled "The Chinese Organ Transplantation Undertaking in Achieving One Belt & One Road Initiative."

He said that China's model of organ donation and transplantation features strong government support for legal, administrative and health sectors, and the progress of capacity building in organ transplantation clinical service and technical development.

China is now implementing a national anti-organ trafficking surveillance system with joint effort of health, legal and law enforcement authorities, which, based on available data, may serve as an example of an operational mechanism to combat organ trafficking for the rest of the world, Huang added.

According to Huang, the final Declaration of the Ethics in Action Meeting held in Vatican in March this year endorsed China as a model for regulating organ transplantation and also as a reference on the issue for other member states of the United Nations.

Huang said that China is willing to share its experience with the rest of world under the Belt and Road Initiative, while at the same time working to improve the organ donation and transplantation system in China by benefiting from the highly valued experience of other countries.

As an official appreciation for China's support to the World Health Organization (WHO) in promoting universal coverage of organ transplantation, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "thank you China" to Huang in Chinese after the meeting.

The 71st annual WHA, held in Geneva from Monday to Saturday, is a gathering of nearly 4,000 delegates from the WHO's 194 member states and partner organizations. The assembly is the WHO's highest decision-making body and determines policy for the organization.