China, the only country that still systematically takes organs from executed prisoners for use in transplant operations, plans to end the controversial practice by the middle of next year.
By mid-2014, all hospitals licensed for organ transplants will be required to stop using organs from executed prisoners, said Huang Jiefu, who heads the organ transplant reform.
The supply of human organs falls far short of demand in China, due in part to a tradition that bodies should be buried or cremated intact. About 300000 patients are wait-listed every year for organ transplants, and only about one in 30 ultimately receives a transplant.
That shortage has driven a trade in illegal organ trafficking.
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