Source: The Third Affiliated Hospital
Written by: Office of the CPC Committee of The Third Affiliated Hospital

On November 21, 2012, when Professor Huang Jiefu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health, P.R.C., was attending the Chinese Hospital Association Conference in Guangzhou, he was informed that there was going to be a DCD (Organ Donation After Cardiac Death) transplant operation in Lingnan Hospital of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. On hearing this, Huang decided to brave the rain and perform that liver transplant operation personally. He commented that this very operation was his support of the innovative reform taking place in Guangdong's public hospitals where the state-owned central hospitals shall gradually expand their services to the grassroots level. He also considered it as a practice of the appeal for voluntary organ donation after death, proposed by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health together.
"It is a real coincidence that I come across this operation.” A woman in her fifties passed away that morning. Based on her own willing and her family’s consent, her organs would be donated to a liver transplant recipient, two kidney transplant recipients, and two cornea transplant recipients. Before stepping into the operating room, Huang readily accepted the interview. He extended his reverence to the voluntary donor by concluding: "One life passed away, but it ended up saving another three. It will also help another two to see the world again. This very devotion is filled with lofty spirit.”

Huang entered the operating theatre around 10 o’clock and got himself prepared for the surgery. After preparation, Huang cooperated well with the team led by Professor Chen Guihua at the Transplant Center of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. The surgery finished up in success in the afternoon.

"I pledged to perform an operation personally when the hospital becomes well developed at the launching ceremony. That is why I came here today to honor that promise.” “The Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that we must provide our people with high quality medical services to ensure their happiness and offer the best treatment to the patients in need. This is our responsibility.” Huang made an analogy that if we could not establish a public organ donation system in China, the transplant operations would become “water without the source”. The cause of organ transplant demands wide understanding and support from the public. The concerted effort made by our people can pave the way for the sustainable development of organ transplant cause in China. Huang said: "Chinese culture advocates love, harmony, devotion, sympathy and saving life. Showing the glory of human nature, the tradition will be inherited and carried forward.”

It is learned that, there are already a large number of potential donors who are willing to donate their organs after death. Since the Ministry of Health and the Red Cross Society of China initiated the pilot project on March 2nd, 2010, the 38 pilot stations have received 465 cases of organ donation. Among them, Guangzhou station is the most exceptional one, with an incredible number of 126 cases.

On the 8th of last October, when Lingnan Hospital in Luogang District was officially handed over to The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Huang Jiefu also attended its launching ceremony. He extolled this move as “a superb example of China’s public hospital reform”. "The Luogang Government built the houses, and Sun Yat-sen University provided the medical expertise and technology. They collaborated and helped the locals solve their health issues”, he remarked. Today when Vice Minister Huang Jiefu heard that the daily number of outpatient services has reached 1,300 persons per day and more than 70% of the 500 hospital beds are being used on average, he further approved this reform by adding:”So far, it is the best mode of expanding public services to the grassroots level which is currently advocated by the party group of the Ministry of Health.”

During the Vice Minister's stay in Luogang, Ling Weixian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee came to express gratitude to Vice Minister Huang Jiefu on behalf of Wan Qingliang, Secretary of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee. Luo Weifeng, Secretary of the CPC Luogang District Committee, and Li Hongwei, Mayor of Luogang District Government, led all the members of the party and government leadership of Luogan District to express their heartfelt thanks to Vice Minister Huang Jiefu for his contribution to the development of the medical and health care cause in Luogang District.