Organ donation in Europe
There are three main aspects involved in the current European organ donation system which try to tackle the issue of organ shortage, transplant risks and trafficking organs.
An estimated 40,000 people across Europe are waiting for a transplant and every day 10 people in the EU die waiting for an organ transplant.
Organ donation system in Spain -Presumed consent system -Transplant co-ordinators in each hospital -High quality control system in the hospital --Jane Lewis Executive Officer of ETCO
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Spanish Model
Spain is a world leader in organ donorship.
Spain achieved an organ donor rate of 35.1 per million population compared to an EU average 18.8.
Executive Officer Jane lewis from European Transplant Coordinators Organization (ETCO) revealed the reason for the success of the Spanish Model.
Presumed consent
Presumed consent has been adopted in more than 20 European countries, including Spain, Italy, and France, all of which procurement rates have grown rapidly.
And other countries, such as Britain are ‘opt in’ system.
A EU-wide donor card system
Euro MPs have called for an EU-wide organ donor card and 24/7 hotline to tackle the shortage of organs for transplant.
British Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne said: “It will speed up the time it takes to match a donated organ to a patient and finally, it will have a knock-on effect on the black market of illegally transported organs.”
However, some countries are strongly against the proposal, and believe the card system will disturb the current presumed consent system, said Jane lewis from ETCO.
Source from:
European Commission Communication, Organ donation and transplantation 2007.
House of Lords EU Committee:Increasing the supply of donor organs within the European Union