For millions of patients, organ transplantation is a life-saving procedure and one of the greatest achievements of contemporary medicine. But it should be carried out morally. In contrast, forced organ harvesting is on the rise in China. This article by Ali Iqbal and Aliya Khan is published by The Conversation. Here is an excerpt:

Organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy for millions of patients and one of the greatest successes of modern medicine. However, a limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.

Although this practice occurs in many countries, the situation in China is particularly concerning. China is the only country in the world to have an industrial-scale organ trafficking practice that harvests organs from executed prisoners of conscience. This practice is known as forced organ harvesting.

To understand forced organ harvesting, it is useful to consider a hypothetical scenario: a patient in Canada with end-stage heart disease is in need of a life-saving cardiac transplant.

Read the full article here.