Going that extra mile for health
By Lin Shujuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-15 09:54

When NPC deputy Wang Longde solicited signatures in support of his proposal to promote health awareness among the general public, Jiang Yiman volunteered to go door-to-door and get fellow deputies to sign up during the intervals of the ongoing NPC session.

For Jiang, the 63-year-old executive vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China, nothing deserves more attention than health and enabling the needy to lead safe and dignified lives.

As a first-time NPC deputy, Jiang is urging legislators to adopt a regulation to promote organ donation after death.

The country's Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation was put into effect in 2004, but Jiang said more needs to be done.

While the existing regulation has to a large extent reduced the percentage of illegal transplants, "encouraging the donation of body organs after death is a fundamental way to ensure legal transplantations", she said.

"If there is enough of a legitimate supply of human organs, people won't have to turn to illegal means," she said.

"Chinese have a tradition of helping those in need.

"I hope we don't restrict that to donations of money and goods, but also include donations of blood, bone marrow and even body organs after death, to save lives," the deputy, who considers the upcoming Olympics one of the best opportunities to promote such donations, said.

The proposal Wang hopes to push through corresponds to the priorities of the Red Cross Society of China, which, established in 1904, is dedicated to assisting the government's humanitarian efforts as an impartial and independent organization, Jiang said.

The organization has more than 180 branches across the country.

"We focus our efforts especially on the vulnerable in dire need of humanitarian assistance," she said.

Jiang said her group is proud of its relief efforts, including those to Southeast Asia when it was hit by the tsunami of 2004 and the recent blizzards that struck the country's own central and southern regions.

The Red Cross has also worked with government agencies to help ensure that the community and those attending the Olympics will be prepared for emergencies.

Classes for first-aid training have been given to drivers, police, park and hotel workers, shop assistants and student volunteers.

A total of 180,000 people are expected to hold first-aid certificates before the Games, she said.