HUMAN
placentas, banned by law from trade, are now selling like hotcakes on the
country's popular e-commerce platform where many customers purchase, cook and
eat them as medicines believed to cure infertility, despite the danger of
catching diseases.
Some sellers on Taobao.com told Shanghai Daily
that they have purchased the placentas secretly from maternity and child care
hospitals.
Although the trade violates the national ban
on selling placentas because they may contain viruses, the sellers say they
have dealt with hospitals safely for months, as they have friends or relatives
working there.
"My wife works as a nurse in the
maternity hospital to ensure that the placentas come from healthy
mothers," said a vendor in eastern Zhejiang Province surnamed Xu.
Huzhou Maternity and Child Care Hospital in
Zhejiang has been listed by one seller on the platform as his official
"purchase channel" to get human placentas whenever new babies are
born.
A Shanghai Daily reporter under cover as a
placenta dealer called the hospital but an official said they no longer sell
the placentas because "the supply of human placentas is not even enough
for the hospital's staff workers."
The official, who refused to be named, said
the reporter can still purchase human placenta "blend" made by the hospital
that can be used instead of a whole placenta.
In response, Huzhou police said they would
investigate the hospital and punish it if it proved to be selling placentas.
Meanwhile, seller Xu revealed that when human
placentas are in short supply, some sellers will purchase animal placentas and
process them into similar shapes as human ones.
"The process is really simple," said
Xu. "They select animal placentas the same size of humans', drain the
blood and dry them in the sun. Then they have the golden-like dried placentas
which have a similar appearance and even the same taste as a human's."
Such dried "human" placentas are
being sold on Taobao at prices ranging from 50 yuan (US$7.85) to 450 yuan each.
Some vendors concentrate the placentas into capsules and sell them in bottles.
Fresh human placentas, which look purple, are more expensive and buyers have to
order in advance.
According to the online sellers, human
placentas are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine because they contain
substances believed to cure conditions that include asthma, menstrual
disorders, impotency and most of all, infertility. Some buyers purchase fresh
placentas, cook and eat them in soups, while others take concentrated pills or
capsules.
The placenta supplies oxygen and nutrients to
the fetus during pregnancy and allows fetal waste to be disposed of via the
mother's kidneys. But placentas can be infected during labor or carry viruses
such as hepatitis B or HIV from the mother, doctors said.
The animal placentas, which are often used
without any screening, are more dangerous, warned doctors.
Shanghai Health authorities said yesterday
that so far they haven't found illegal trading of human placentas in the city's
hospitals.
An official surnamed Wang with Fudan
University's Maternity and Children Health Hospital said mothers of newborns
may decide whether they take the placentas.
Xu Chi
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment