Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting

Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting is a medical non-profit organization that has been founded by medical doctors. In their Mission Statement, DAFOH refers to the Hippocratic Oath, Declaration of Helsinki, and other declarations of ethics in medicine. The organization is based in Washington, D.C. DAFOH aims to promote ethics in medicine and to inform medical doctors and patients who are in need of transplantation. An increasing number of transplantations requires an even more accurate documentation of the organ sources.

DAFOH stays in contact with medical organizations worldwide, presented particular cases to them and has received recognitions from medical boards and associations in Netherlands [ [https://www.dafoh.org/Statement_of_the_NVvH.php Statement of the Association of Surgeons of the Netherlands ] ] and Tobago. DAFOH frequently updates other transplant related organizations like e.g. the National Kidney Foundation. DAFOH has been invited to present its data at various forums and press conferences [ [http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/incongruity-of-olympic-host-with-bloody-record-1765.html Epoch Times - Incongruity of Olympic Host With Bloody Record ] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=20d0fa3c-f0a4-4767-ab09-25456c176c4b Ottawa Citizen] ] .

Aside from scattered forms of organ trafficking in countries like India and the Philippines, China has recently drawn more attention to its practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners. In 2001 Dr. Wang Guoqi testified about these practices in a congressional hearing [ [http://waysandmeans.house.gov/legacy/trade/107cong/7-10-01/7-10wolf.htm Congressional Testimony of Dr. Wang] ] . In 2005 the Deputy Health Minister Huang Jiefu admitted the practice of organ harvesting from executed prisoners [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article745119.ece Times of London] ] . This practice is unique in the world and is not found in any other countries. Ethical standards in western medicine prohibits organ sourcing without prior free consent. The World Medical Association [ [http://www.wma.net/e/policy/cr_5.htm WMA - Policy : Council Resolution on Organ Donation in China ] ] and The Transplantation Society agree that due to the nature of imprisonment, death row candidates are not in the position to give free consent for organ donation.

In 2006 it came to public awareness that in China organs were not only harvested from executed prisoners but also from living people, mostly dissidents. Investigative reports and testimonies stated that organs were forcibly harvested from living people without prior free consent [ [http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-2/70075.html Epoch Times | Organ Harvesting Confirmed By a Former Detention Center Prisoner ] ] . According to eyewitnesses, this unethical practice started in 2001. An investigation by co-authors David Kilgour and David Matas [ [http://organharvestinvestigation.net/ An Independent Investigation into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China ] ] concluded that the allegations were true. In particular, phone interviews with medical doctors from 17 hospitals in China revealed that organs are mainly harvested from adherents of the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong. The Kilgour & Matas Report concluded that more than 40,000 unexplained organs were used for transplantation between 2001 and 2006. On websites Chinese hospitals offered any type of organs for transplantation within 2-4 weeks. Due to a lacking organ donation program in China and a discrepancy in the figures the circumstances suggest that there is a living pool of unwilling donors recruited by dissidents and adherents of the banned Falun Gong movement. These findings contributed to the foundation of DAFOH in 2007.

Manfred Nowak, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture stated that the transplant figures increased dramatically after the persecution of Falun Gong [ [http://clearharmony.net/articles/200703/38603.html Profil Magazine (Austria): Lost in Transplantation | Clearharmony - Falundafa in Europe ] ] . In accordance with Nowak's findings, DAFOH relates the dramatic increase of transplant figures to a new, secondary source of organs, which is also documented in the Kilgour & Matas Report.

The organ procurement practices in China are in violation of ethical standards in medicine. Due to a shortage of transplant organs worldwide, more patients are inclined to travel abroad for organs. However the organ procurement practices in China are still unknown to many doctors and patients in the west. DAFOH strives to bring awareness about this unethical medical practice, to inform patients and to stop this unethical practice in China.

See Also

*Organ harvesting in China

References

*Amnesty International on Death Penalty in China [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA17/003/2004/en/dom-ASA170032004en.html]

External Links

*http://chinaview.wordpress.com/category/all-hot-topic/organ-harvesting/
*http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-13/70588.html
*http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2007/August/opinion_August63.xml&section=opinion&col=
*http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,2257531,00.html
* [http://www.dafoh.org/ Organization website]