Breaking news for the International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Vancouver

"There are breaking news for the International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Vancouver attended by some 4000 transplant experts and company leaders from today [Aug. 15, 2010] to next thursday.

Amnesty International explicitely addresses the congress in Vancouver and holds global pharmaceutical companies responsible for their transplant activities in China. DAFOH appeals to pharmaceutical companies to refrain from clinical transplant studies in China. And most surprisingly, Novartis declared publicly a moratorium for clinical transplant trials in China and announced further steps."

These are the three news:

- A public call of Amnesty International to end the use of organs from executed prisoners including a call on pharmaceutical companies "to ensure that they do not directly or indirectly assist, encourage or support the sourcing of organs from executed prisoners."

- The very promising reaction of Novartis on this call. Novartis supports the AI call, declares a moratorium for clinical transplant trials in China, and works on an meeting of all actors to take next steps.

- A public "DAFOH statement on Clinical Trials that involve Transplants of unknown Origin". It appeals to research and pharmaceutical companies to refrain from performing clinical trials in transplant medicine in the People’s Republic of China.

Amnesty International Public Call

"AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR THE END TO THE USE OF ORGANS FROM EXECUTED PRISONERS" Taking the opportunity of the TTS Congress Amnesty International published the Amnesty call explicitely addresses leaders from pharmaceutical companies at the Vancouver congress saying: "On 15-19 August 2010, leaders from pharmaceutical companies will join experts from around the world to participate in the XXIII International Congress of the Transplantation Society. Amnesty International is taking the opportunity of this Congress to call on pharmaceutical companies to collectively:

* declare their commitment to respecting human rights;

* condemn the practice of sourcing organs from executed prisoners; and

* undertake to carry out human rights due diligence, including throughout their value chains, so as to become aware of, prevent and address adverse human rights impacts, and to ensure that they do not directly or indirectly assist, encourage or support the sourcing of organs from executed prisoners."

The call is published on the Amnesty website in Switzerland where the global pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis have their headquarters.

In the introduction to this call the Swiss Section of Amnesty says:

"La Section suisse d’Amnesty International lance un appel demandant au gouvernement chinois et aux entreprises pharmaceutiques, et en particulier à Roche et Novartis, de prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour éviter les violations de droits humains lors des transplantations d’organes en Chine.

Les leaders des entreprises doivent faire preuve d’une diligence particulière afin de ne pas soutenir ou bénéficier, de façon directe ou indirecte, d’organes prélevés sur les condamnés à mort lors de la recherche et de la commercialisation de médicaments immunosuppresseurs. Il est nécessaire qu’ils se dotent de lignes directives communes, soumises à des expertises indépendantes, pour éviter de se rendre complices d’abus."

Reactions of Novartis and Roche to the Amnesty Public Call:

The respected newspaper Le Temps for the french speaking Switzerland featured this Amnesty Call in an excellent article reporting the very promising response of Novartis and the disappointing response of Roche on this call: "....Novartis observe un moratoire de ses tests cliniques de médicament antirejet en

Chine. Son porte-parole, Satoshi Sugimoto, explique que Novartis 'soutient l’appel public international d’Amnesty' et travaillera à unir tous les acteurs pour 'les prochaines mesures'. Le groupe précise encore qu’il entend promouvoir le dialogue et l’éducation en Chine pour surmonter les défis éthiques de la donation d’organes.

Roche est pour sa part dans le viseur des ONG. En janvier, à Davos, l’entreprise s’est vu décerner par la Déclaration de Berne (DB) et Greenpeace Suisse un 'prix de la honte' pour ses 'pratiques non éthiques de transplantation'. Selon la DB, Roche testait alors son médicament CellCept sur quelque 300 organes transplantés dans diverses cliniques chinoises. La société bâloise n’a pas répondu aux sollicitations du Temps....'

The article also quotes David Matas:

'... Pour David Matas, un avocat récompensé au début de l’année par la section suisse de la Société internationale pour les droits de l’homme pour sa lutte contre le trafic d’organes en Chine, les codes de conduite des médecins sont insuffisants. Même si les Chinois disent que les organes ne proviennent pas de prisonniers, on ne leur demande pas d’en apporter la preuve. Souvent, les médecins chinois ne disent pas la vérité. L’industrie pharmaceutique ne fait pas d’enquête ou ne cherche pas à savoir. Il est clair que presque toutes les transplantations dans ce pays proviennent de prisonniers.' L’avocat canadien dit bien prisonnier. Car il pense qu’il n’y a pas que les condamnés à mort qui servent de réserves d’organes. Ses recherches l’ont amené à conclure que des détenus du mouvement spirituel Falun gong faisaient l’objet de prélèvement d’organes sans leur consentement et parfois au prix de leur vie....'

DAFOH also took the opportunity of the TTS congress to make on its website a "DAFOH Statement on Clinical Trials that involve Transplants of unknown Origin." It says: "According to transplant figures that Dr. Jiefu Huang, Vice Health Minister of the People's Republic of China, has presented at the Madrid Conference on Organ Donation and Transplantation in March 2010, approximately 60-90% of the transplantations performed in China use organs that stem from executed prisoners, and we add, might include organs that stem from Falun Gong practitioners whose organs are forcibly harvested while still alive. This goes along with a high likelihood that transplants used in clinical trials in transplantation medicine in China are actually procured in a way that is banned by ethical standards of all major medical organizations. For this reason, DAFOH adds in its appeal to research and pharmaceutical companies to refrain from performing clinical trials in transplant medicine in the People’s Republic of China."

Source:

Amnesty International