A Chinese doctor accused of overseeing the harvesting of organs from political prisoners for transplantation should be stripped of an honorary professorship awarded by the University of Sydney, academics say.
The honour awarded to transplant surgeon Huang Jiefu, who was until recently China's vice-minister for health and now oversees its organ transplant committee, has split university staff and transplant experts.
They are basically still practising execution on demand.
But the university and the international Transplant Society say Dr Huang has been the "foremost leader" in reforming organ donation in China, calling for less reliance on organs from executed prisoners.
Sydney University academic Maria Fiatarone Singh, whose open letter to the university was signed by the Nobel peace prize-nominated anti-harvesting expert David Kilgour, said Dr Huang and the Chinese government had only payed "lip service" to stopping it.
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"They are basically still practising execution on demand," she said.
The Greens propose new laws imposing prison sentences of up to 25 years for NSW residents caught travelling overseas to buy organs.
The register of kidney transplants known as ANZDATA has confirmed that between five and 10 Australians receive kidneys overseas each year.
"Some of these may indeed represent ... illegal transplants from paid donors," registry manager Kylie Hurst said.
But she said many patients were born overseas and it was legitimate for them to receive a transplant from a friend or family member.
Jeremy Chapman, a Sydney transplant doctor and chairman of the world-wide anti-organ trafficking pact, the Declaration of Istanbul, said he believed up to half of those overseas transplants could be illegal. They were particularly suspicious when "a transplant here is free and the transplant there costs a fortune".
Greens NSW MP and justice spokesman David Shoebridge said he would present a petition supporting his legislation signed by 80,000 people to Parliament next week.
"Growing reports and evidence of forced organ harvesting and unethical trafficking across the globe make it imperative for all governments to do what they can to close any avenues which may facilitate this gross violation of human rights," Mr Shoebridge said.
Mr Shoebridge, who signed the letter criticising the Sydney University honorary appointments, said it was vital that institutions took a stand against organ harvesting.
Sydney University Medical School dean Bruce Robinson said: "It is our outright opposition to the retrieval of executed prisoners’ organs for transplantation that has cemented our support for our Honorary Professor Huang Jiefu."
Article Source : http://www.theage.com.au
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