EKHA Calls for a Second EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation
9 October 2023
In an open letter to European Union policymakers published in the wake of the 2023 European Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation, the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) underlines the urgent need to develop a renewed Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation to address the shortage of donor organs in the EU.
Saturday, 7 October marked the European Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation and presented a fitting moment to reflect on the current state of the organ donation and transplantation landscape in the European Union. Between 2009 and 2015, the EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation achieved considerable success by augmenting organ availability, enhancing efficiency and accessibility of transplant systems and improving quality and safety across Europe, increasing the total number of organ donors in the Union by 17%. However, since the conclusion of this Action Plan in 2015, this rate has stalled, and even decreased, with several EU Member States experiencing a decline in the number of organ donors.
In Europe, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become a major health issue over the last decades. For patients suffering from terminal and irreversible organ failure that can come as a result of progressing NCDs, organ transplantation often is the only life-saving option available. In the European Union, every day, some 18 patients who await a transplant die. To address this pressing situation, EKHA calls upon the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to urgently develop a renewed EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation, for which various MEPs have already expressed their support, for the 2024-2029 European Union mandate.
EKHA’s open letter calling for the formulation of a second EU Action Plan on Organ Donation and Transplantation is endorsed by 25 signatories.
Read the open letter here.