2015年经济学人 器官移植 官方喊停死囚器官移植

Organ transplants

Spare the bullet

Officials try to curb¹ the use of organs from executed prisoners

TRANSPLANT operations in China have long relied on organs taken from executed prisoners,

a practice that has led to such abuses as the timing² of executions to meet organ demand,

with no notification of relatives. As by far the world's biggest user of the death penalty,

China could count on an abundant—if still far from adequate—supply. But in recent years,

stung by international criticism, it has been trying both to reduce executions and to end the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners without their,

or their families', consent. Since January 1st the government has insisted that no such organs be used for transplants. Ensuring compliance³, however, will be difficult.

The number of executions is almost certainly falling, even if it remains⁴ far higher than in the rest of the world.

The government does not release data, but the Dui Hua Foundation, an American NGO, reckons there were around 2,400 executions in 2013, down from 6,500 in 2007.

In spite of the impact this has had on organ supply, the government still seems keen to sever⁵ the grim link between hospitals and courts that allows wealthy

(or well-connected) patients to use organs from condemned⁶ prisoners.

In theory, the rules mean that hospitals will be able to obtain only organs donated by volunteers to a national organ-bank.

The bank was set up in 2010, partly to fight corruption⁷ in the organ-allocation system by making it less haphazard⁸.

It was slow to get going: by the end of 2014 it had received only about 8,000 organs from deceased volunteer-donors

(it is not clear if this includes organs from executed prisoners; there is little incentive¹⁰ for court officials to force death-row inmates¹¹ to give assent¹² if the organs are given to a bank rather than to somebody willing to pay).

But in January and February alone nearly 1,000 were donated, thanks to the linking of more provinces to the bank's network.

The head of the government's organ-donation committee, Huang Jiefu, believes the bank will receive more than 10,000 organs this year.

That is about as many as the number of transplants carried out annually¹³, but a fraction of the 300,000 needed.

Persuading the public to donate remains a problem. Many Chinese adhere to a traditional belief that the body has to be kept intact to show respect for ancestors.

A senior official at a provincial¹⁴ branch of the Red Cross Society of China, the agency responsible for the donor⁹ scheme,

says that a lucrative¹⁵ backdoor trade in executed prisoners' organs will be hard to stop. He says hospitals, middlemen and court officials all benefit from it.

They have often ignored a regulation passed in 2007 that requires consent from a deceased donor's family.

The government now appears to be suggesting it will get serious about a rule issued in 2013 which threatens hospitals with cancellation¹⁶ of their licences if they use organs other than those from the bank.

One doctor says a small number of transplants performed at his hospital last year still involved prisoners' organs from outside the network.

Mr Huang of the organ-donation committee admits that much work remains to be done.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

9 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

13 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

14 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

15 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

16 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。