Organ donations in China reached record numbers last year following the ban on sourcing of organs from executed prisoners, China Daily reported.
"Organ transplantation in China has made a successful transformation in the past year," said Huang Jiefu, former vice minister of health, in an interview with China Daily. "It has won recognition by the world."
According to Huang, organ donations reached 2,766 in 2015, helping over 10,000 surgeries in the country to be performed--a significant change from the total numbers from 2013 and 2014.
Since Jan. 2015, the use of organs from executed prisoners for transplant surgery was banned by the government, making voluntary donors the only source of much-needed transplant organs.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission backs Huang's statement, as statistics from the commission show increasing organ donations at a rapid pace. In 2014, the rate for organ donation per million of population reached 1.2, about 60 times from the level in 2010. Last year, the rate increased to 2.1 per million.
"Last year the success rate of transplant surgery in China was also the highest, as organs were donated from citizens rather than retrieved from executed prisoners," said Huang, who now serves as the chair of the National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee.
Huang was one of the 19 recipients of the Gusi International Peace Price last August. The award is given to individuals who have contributed to global peace and progress.
Aside from his contributions in improving medical conditions in the country, Huang was also awarded because of "orchestrating the entire organ transplantation reform, ending the use of executed prisoners' organs, and developing the necessary social, legal and clinical framework to enable large-scale organ donation in China."
Huang expects major leaps in organ donations and transplants in the country this year. Among his proposals include kidney transplant surgery that is paid for by the country's medical insurance system.
"China's organ transplantation has become a cause of social interdependence," Huang said. "As all organs are donated free, all people should have equal rights to enjoy the transplant services. Nobody should be rejected just because they are poor."