Traditions hamper organ donations across China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-24 10:05
Millions of people with failing organs are waiting for donated transplants
that don't exist, because traditions in China often require the body of the dead
to be buried or cremated whole.
The Tianjin University of Medial Science is trying to change those
traditional attitudes so that more people will be willing to donate their organs
when they die. Anyone who agrees to fill out a consent form donating their body
to science will be remembered and honored by having their last testament posted
in a memorial hall at the university. The goal is to encourage others to do the
same.
"I am very accomplished in life. There is no reason for sorrow at the end of
my life. If you see death as the destiny at the end of a voyage, there is no
reason to worry about what happens to your body," said one donor in his
testament that is prominently posted in the memorial hall, which has received
thousands of visitors since it opened in 2003.
"I volunteer to donate my body unconditionally to the country's medical
cause. It is the last thing I can do for my country," wrote Li Boying, a farmer
who died of cancer.
Li became a donor without informing his family, which strongly opposed his
decision, but the cancer sufferer's last wish aimed at bringing hope to other
people in pain.
While donating organs after death appalls many Chinese, millions of seriously
ill people hope that changes soon.
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