Progress of Donation Figures in the European Union (2009‐2015)

Abstract

Introduction The Newsletter Transplant of the Council of Europe publishes donation and transplantation international figures for organ, tissues and haematopoietic stem cells, and the documents produced by a committee of experts on the organizational aspects of co-operation in organ transplantation. [1]In December 2008, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive that defines quality and safety requirements for human organs intended for transplantation, and an action plan for improving co-operation between Member States in this field. The purpose of this research is to present the evolution of donation figures in the European Union (EU28) since the implementation of this action plan. Methods Data source: Information for the Newsletter is collected through a network of national focal points designated by the Ministries of Health of the participating countries, by means of a specifically designed questionnaire. Study period Data from the 28 EU member states has been analyzed to assess the evolution of actual donors during the period 2009‐2015. Definitions We have used the Newsletter of the Council of Europe’s definitions which are based on the “WHO Global Glossary of Terms and Definitions on Donation and Transplantation”. Statistical Methods Descriptive statistics (SPSS v.15.0) Results Cardiac death donation (DCD) has seen an important increase, representing a 7% in 2009 and a 12 % in 2015 (84 % increase). There have been changes in age distribution of donors. There has been a very significant increase in those above 60, a 35% (data available from 2010 onwards). This is a trend that is occurring in practically all EU28 countries. The variations in actual donations, however, are not the same for all EU28 countries. None the less there are countries in which donation has decreased.Conclusions - During the study period there has been an increase in actual donations in EU28, with variations between member states. - The increase of donors in absolute numbers is of 1230. - The contribution of U.K, France and Spain represents 72% of this increase (891 donors). - In countries with little activity in 2009 or that are small in population there has been an important increase in donation rate per million population during this period. - DCD implementation is limited to a few countries, but has seen an important increase in EU28.