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The future of organ donation and transplantation

The first successful organ transplant was in 1953, in the United States ， which, at the time, seemed like science fiction to many people. Since then, medical advances have given many people hope to change their lives.

However, organ donation and transplantation are sensitive and complex issues, with important ethical dimensions, which require full participation by the whole society and proper measurement to tackle the problems.

A few recommendations have been made to improve the current system recently and have gained widespread approval in the UK.

Emulating Spanish Model:

As the leader of the organ donation field, the successful system of the Spanish has been imitated by many countries:

Establish a centralized office for coordination;
Double the number of transplant coordinators;
Strengthening the network of organ retrieval teams;
Controversial suggestion: introducing presumed consent system instead of current ‘opt in’ system.(Click here for in-depth coverage)

(Source from Department of Health)

Setting high standards of quality and safety for human organs

The House of Lords EU committee has stressed the importance of establishing minimum standards across Europe, and includes significant flexibility to allow scope for clinical judgment and patient choice.

Xenotransplantation:

It means the transplantation of organs, cells and tissues from one species to another.
Pigs are now being genetically manipulated to carry human genes, but it’s still a long way to go before xenotransplantation can offer people real hope.

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The future of organ donation