BEIJING (Kyodo) The Chinese Health Ministry is launching an "overhaul" of organ transplants carried out in mainland hospitals as a result of an investigation into the illegal organ trade following Japanese media reports, state media reported Thursday.
The state-run newspaper China Daily said the ministry's ongoing investigation has already identified 16 mainland hospitals that "failed to comply with regulations" on organ transplants.
They are among 164 medical institutions that are permitted to carry out organ transplants in the country, the newspaper said.
A team led by the ministry together with the National Organ Transplantation Committee will carry out a "final evaluation" of the remaining authorized organ transplant institutions to see if they comply with regulations.
Those that fail will have their licenses revoked, the paper said.
China in May 2007 passed laws governing organ transplants that prohibited organ-trafficking and "transplant tourism" for foreigners because of a huge shortfall of organs in the country.
Some 2 million Chinese are estimated to be in need of organ transplants each year, but only 20,000 operations are performed due to a shortage of donors, the China Daily said.
Japanese news media reported earlier this year that 17 Japanese tourists had paid up to 595,000 yuan (about $87,000) for organ transplants in Guangzhou, southern China.
The price included transport and 20 days of treatment at the unidentified hospital. Such procedures usually cost 100,000 yuan (or $14,600) if carried out legally in qualified hospitals.
To avoid detection, some of the tourists had registered under Chinese names.
The reports also said the organs had been harvested from executed prisoners. China says written consent of the prisoners or their family members is required before such organs are used in transplants.