IRISH PATIENTS on transplant waiting lists could have access to organs donated across the EU under new laws expected to be approved by the European Parliament today.
MEPs will vote on regulations to create uniform standards for the quality and safety of transplant procedures and donated organs across all 27 member states; to facilitate co-operation between member states; and to protect donors.
The new laws fall short of the creation of an EU “organ bank”, where organs available for transplant would be automatically offered to qualifying candidates who rank highest on an EU transplant list.
However, the introduction of EU-wide standards for the quality of organs and the safety of procedures would facilitate donations, transplants and exchanges between member states and would eliminate any waste of organs where there was a lack of suitable recipients in a particular area.
Transplant advocacy groups may also be disappointed that the regulations fail to address the issue of presumed consent, where a deceased person with viable organs is presumed to consent to have their organs used.
The EU commission hopes the new regulations will address the low rate of organ donation across member states. More than 56,000 patients are on transplant waiting lists across the EU and 12 people die each day waiting for transplants. While 80 per cent of EU citizens said they were in favour of having organ donation cards, only 12 per cent carry them.
The organ donation rate among deceased donors is 18 donors per million across the EU. Rates vary widely, with Spain recording the best rate of 34 donors per million of population and Romania the worst at just one per million. Ireland is just above average, with a rate of about 20 deceased donors per million and has more than 650 people on the waiting list.
Under the regulations each state will set up a national authority to supervise the implementation of the national quality programme and exchanges with member states or third countries.
Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness said increasing the availability of organs in the EU would reduce the risk of transplant tourism, where people in developing countries were paid to donate their organs. “We do not want people buying organs. We do not want in the European Union any sense that this would become a trade . . . it is about altruism that people donate and they give to somebody on the basis of wanting them to benefit.”