Sentenced to death

China has announced that it will phase out the use of condemned prisoners as a source for transplant organs and will institute a national donation system over the next 5 years.

This comes as good news for human rights groups, which alleges that China pressures death row inmates into donating their organs.

However, two-thirds of organs currently come from these prisoners, which means even less patients would receive transplants.

The government points out that prisoners are not ideal donors because infections are usually high, affecting long-term survival rates of those who undergo the transplants.

Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. Without donors, even less-than-ideal ones, those in need face their own kind of death sentence.