THE GOVERNMENT is to establish a new national authority to oversee the quality and safety of organ transplants.
The move comes in response to an EU directive on organ donation which has been backed by a key MEP committee and is expected to be formally approved by the European Parliament next month.
A new drive to boost organ donation, improve safety and curb illegal organ trafficking is under way across the EU, with the Parliament’s public health committee voting for the new directive along with an action plan on transplantation.
Governments across Europe are struggling to meet the surging demand for transplants and 12 people die every day while awaiting transplantation.
Organ donation rates vary widely across the 27-member bloc. Spain’s rate of 34 donors per million of population puts it on top of the league, while Romania is propping up the table with a donation rate of just one per million. Ireland is just above average with a rate of about 20 deceased donors per million.
The disparity is partly due to differences in how health systems are organised, according to EU officials. Spain has invested heavily in training a network of transplant co-ordinators who liaise directly with bereaved families to discuss organ donation, helping to alleviate the shortage. One of the key elements of the new action plan is to encourage European governments to learn from the Spanish experience and train more transplant co-ordinators.
The Department of Health said there were already transplant co-ordinators in Irish hospitals, and Ireland fully supports the new measures set down in the organs directive.
Irish Kidney Association chief executive Mark Murphy described the new legislation as “a strong blueprint for improvements in transplantation for all of Europe”. He said he was relieved that a last-minute change in the wording would mean living donations would be seen as complementary to deceased transplantation, despite some MEPs seeking to make living donation “a last resort”. Living donation rates are rising across the EU and now account for 18 per cent of all transplants in Europe.
The new directive is expected to be passed by a full sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on April 20th.