Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved 164 hospitals on the mainland to perform organ transplant operations. The MOH has organized experts to evaluate existing hospitals that perform organ transplant, and 87 hospitals have passed the experts' evaluation, Wang Yu, a department director of MOH, said.

At the same time, the MOH has designated 77 hospitals at provincial levels to perform organ transplant, Wang said.

By now, there are altogether 164 hospitals entitled to perform organ transplant and the MOH will soon publicize the names of the hospitals on internet.

Previously, more than 600 hospitals in China carried out organ transplant operations, but many of them lacked in effective management, which led to various problems, Wang said.

This year, China passed a string of new regulations on organ transplant, aiming to standardize human organ transplant surgery, help medical institutions improve their services and guarantee benefits of patients.

The regulations on human organ transplants, which prohibit organizations and individuals from trading human organs in any form, went into effect on May 1.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)