Shanghai Daily News

Medical experts from Zhongshan Hospital said yesterday that the best organ source for transplants are patient's relatives and that present technology imposes less harm on donors.

Doctors said the ideal scenario is to get organs from living relatives and launch minimally invasive approaches to remove the organ.

"There are some 120,000 people diagnosed with kidney disease in the country every year while only 5,000 to 6,000 have transplant surgeries annually due to a lack of organs," said Wang Guomin, Zhongshan Hospital's vice president.

The United States completed 12,600 kidney transplant surgeries last year while 52 percent of those organs were donated from patients' relatives.

"The percentage is less than two in China, as many people fear for their health," Wang said.

Doctors explained that they have introduced less invasive surgery, as the whole process of taking an organ is conducted with a celioscope and imposes less injuries.

The donor can leave the hospital within three to five days, Wang said.