Renowned Chinese organ surgeon Dr. Huang Jiefu has won the Gusi Peace Prize International.
“It is my honor to accept this for the Chinese people,” Dr. Huang told Delta Bridges at the award ceremony in Manila, Philippines, where the Gusi charity prize is based.
“It is said that diseases do not know borders, so doctors should not too so we can cure them. I am hopeful that we doctors here can do something about that to better humanity,” Dr. Huang said.
A former Vice Minister of Health for the People’s Republic of China, Dr. Huang is a current advisor to the country’s National Healthcare and Family Planning Commission ( NHFPC) for overseeing organ transplants.
Indeed, his surgical prowess and policymaking skills are what made him a Gusi winner. Namely his cleaning up of organ transplant transparency in China. “We are making medicine and organ transplants among the safest and most transparent in the world,” he said.
Dr. Huang is currently coordinating with the three major Chinese organizations that manage organ transplants in China: the NHFPC, local governments, and the Red Cross with his work as the director of the National Organ Transplantation Committee (NOTC). He has labored to stop illegal organ harvesting from executed prisoners.
Dr. Mansok Fok of Hong Kong, a CEO of the Gusi Peace Prize International and the newly launched Sino-Asia Pacific Medical Forum said, “Dr. Huang’s work is now increasing peoples’ willingness to come forward and donate there organs whereas before there was some concern to do so.”
The Sino-Asia Medical Forum, which launched in Manila and Macau this week, also hosted Dr. Huang for a special scientific symposium where Dr. Huang was a keynote speaker and awardee. Dr. Huang added, “In China and Asia there is a need to come together to share ideas and resources to improve the lives of our patients and populations." Dr. Uang will continue his battle to make sure organ transplantations are done fairly and are available for the general public.