What’s Wrong With That?

March 22, 2006

Since 1997, only 40 human organs have been transplanted in Japan. Because the demand greatly exceeds the supply, Japanese citizens are turning to China’s burgeoning human organ transplant industry. According to The Independent, a single broker has helped more than a hundred Japanese people go to China for transplants since 2004 and the trade is rapidly growing.

The Japanese willing pay tens of thousands of dollars for livers and kidneys, many of which have been harvested from executed prisoners and sold to area hospitals. The Chinese government does not reveal how many people it executes, but analysts estimate as many as 8,000 people are killed each year. At $70,000 per organ and three viable organs per prisoner, Beijing has a substantial incentive to ensure there is a constant supply of fresh “organ donors.”

Japan’s health ministry has begun a joint research project with transport authorities in an attempt to limit the flow of medical tourists and the sale of organs for transplants is technically illegal in China. But some people, desperate for a transplant, are willing to overlook the ethical and legal ramifications. “My translator said my donor was a young executed prisoner,” says businessman Kenichiro Hokamura’. “The donor was able to provide a contribution to society so what’s wrong with that?”