Organ donation

The health minister wants to weigh the ethical considerations of the presumed consent model. Photo: Horizont21/Iris/Scanpix At the behest of the nation's health minister, the Danish Council on Ethics will consider whether Danes should be automatically registered as organ donors. Health Minister Sophie Løhde said in a press release that she has asked the Danish Council of Ethics (Det Etiske Råd) to weigh in on the ethical implications of changing the organ donation rules.  Løhde said “the time is right” to consider whether Denmark should adopt a “presumed consent” approach to organ donation in which everyone over the age of 18 would automatically be added to the national donor registry (Donorregistret).  Rather than today's model that requires people to actively register as an organ donor, the minister is considering switching to a model in which people would have to actively remove themselves from the registry.  “Danes … [Read more...] about Denmark considers automatic organ donation

Spain has broken its own world record for the number of organs donated in one single day, cementing its postition as global transplant leader. On December 14th Spain registered 16 donors - 15 deceased and one living - whose organs allowed for 38 transplants. The record is down to "the huge generosity of Spaniards and the enormous efficiency of the Spanish transplant network," the National Transplant Organization (ONT) said in a statement. The transplants - which included 21 kidney, nine liver, five lung (three double lung transplants), two heart and one double pancreas and kidney transplant - were carried out in 29 hospitals across 11 of Spain’s autonomous communities. The record cements Spain’s position as the world leader in transplants; the country broke its own record of 14 donors in one day, which was set in February 2014. Felicito a los equipos sanitarios e instituciones que lo han hecho posible. Admirable generosidad de los españoles … [Read more...] about Spain sets world record for most organ donations made in one day

Spain saw 36 donors per million people in 2014, "far superior" to the European Union figure of 19. Photo of a surgical team: Shutterstock George Mills/The Local/AFP 13 January 2015 14:48 CET+01:00 Spanish surgeons beat their own organ donation record in 2014 despite serious cuts to the country's health system in recent years. A total of 4,360 organ donations were carried out in Spain in 2014, beating the Spanish record of 4,279 notched up in 2013, new figures released by the country's National Transplant Organization (ONT) on Tuesday show. Of these transplants, 2,678 were kidneys, 1,068 were liver transplants and 265 were heart transplants. Spain also saw 36 donors per million people in 2014 — equal to 1,682 donors — "far superior" to the European Union figure of 19, health authorities said of the 2014 results.  That also put Spain far ahead of other countries, with 26 donors per million people in the US, 25 in France and a … [Read more...] about Spain tops world organ donation rankings

Geneva's university hospital (HUG). Photo: Julien Gregario Organ donation in Switzerland is lagging far behind other European countries, according to a new study which found more than half of potential donors in Switzerland refuse consent. The study, carried out by the University of Bern and organ donation organization Swisstransplant during 2013, surveyed every hospital in Switzerland during the course of a year. Published this month and reported by newspaper Le Matin on Friday, the findings revealed that nearly 53 percent of potential organ donors either failed to register their consent during their lifetime or had consent refused by relatives after their death. The figure is higher than in 2008 (42 percent) and far greater than the European average of 30 percent. Speaking to Le Matin about the study, Dr Philippe Morel, vice-president of Swisstransplant and head of the transplant service at Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG) said: “A quarter of … [Read more...] about Swiss organ donation consent at ‘shameful’ low