Press Release

22/04/2008

Reinforced European cooperation to tackle donor organ shortage. Frieda Brepoels MEP

Increasing the number of organ donors in a safe way is the main challenge the EU faces with regard to organ transplantation. Today, the European Parliament adopted a report entitled 'Organ donation and transplantation: policy actions at EU level' proposing a range of measures to tackle problems such as organ shortage, transplantation risks and organ trafficking.

As rapporteur for the EPP-ED Group, Frieda Brepoels MEP welcomes the fact that concrete action is finally being taken: "Although the number of organ donors has gradually increased over the past years, there remains an overall shortage of organs and a long waiting list of ten thousand patients with a high mortality rate. To increase the number of available organs in a safe way, the report proposes an integral approach based on three pillars: reinforced cooperation between Member States, a Directive for the quality and safety of organ donation and transplantation, and measures to fight the trafficking of organs."

The debates in Parliament showed that the issue of organ donation and transplantation is highly sensitive and complex, with significant cultural and legal differences between Member States. Yet, factors other than legislation seem to be predominant in determining the number of donors. Brepoels said: "A visit to Spain showed us that the organisation of the donation system is crucial in increasing the number of donors. The European Parliament therefore asks that hospitals dedicate enough staff to identify potential donors and to assist relatives of deceased persons. It is also important that the hospitals generate enough attention for the positive results of transplantations and that they have a proactive media approach. The GIFT Project, currently running in Belgium, is based on the Spanish model and yields excellent results. This shows how enriching it can be to exchange best practices among Member States. The EU can hereby act as a facilitator."

In addition, the Parliament stresses that the Directive for quality and safety which the Commission will shortly publish needs to be flexible enough: the availability of organs should not be hampered and red tape for Member States should not increase.

Finally, the European Parliament asks the Commission and Europol to better combat organ donation and transplant tourism. Organ donation must stay strictly non-commercial and voluntary.

• In Europe, ten thousand people are on a transplant waiting list. For many patients, the donor organ arrives too late: every day, ten patients in the EU die waiting for a donor organ.
• Worldwide, Spain has the highest number of donors: more than 35 per million citizens in 2007. Belgium, in second place, saw an increase of 6% in 2007 (from 27.3 to 29.1 donors per million citizens). The screening system GIFT, inspired by the Spanish model, most likely contributed to the Belgian success.
• Frieda Brepoels MEP tabled 56 amendments for the vote of the report in the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, all of which were adopted and formed the basis of a compromise between political groups.

For further information:
Frieda Brepoels MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845862
Greet Gysen, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-497-028054

Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 288 Members from all 27 Member States.