European Kidney Forum 2018: Donation & Transplantation – The gift of life

EKHA held its 2018 European Kidney Forum on 26 April in Brussels. Organized under the auspices of the MEP Group for Kidney Health, the event gathered representatives from the European Commission and Parliament, patient associations, kidney doctors and representatives from the private sector to take stock on kidney transplantation in the EU and to discuss next steps on the matter.

The event featured speeches from MEP Hilde Vautmans (Belgium) and MEP Karin Karin Kadenbach (Austria), Stefaan Van der Spiegel from European Commission’s DG Sante, Prof Rainer Oberbauer from the European Society for Organ Transplantation, Dr Vianda Stel from the ERA-EDTA Registry, and Fiona Loud from Kidney Care UK.

The 2018 European Kidney Forum opened with MEP co-chairs Hilde Vautmans and Karin Kadenbach, emphasising the role MEPs have in stimulating debate and consultations at national level to unleash the potential of the gift of life.

Session topics included:

• The transplant physician’s  view point: What is the situation of transplantation in Europe? How are EU countries doing? – Presented by Prof Rainer Oberbauer, Austria. European Society for Organ Transplantation.
• The EDITH project: What is it and what do the first results show? – Presented by Dr. Vianda Stel, Netherlands, ERA-EDTA Renal Registry
• The patient’s viewpoint – Presented by Fiona Loud, Kidney Care UK
• Organ Donation & Transplantation across the EU: the work of the European Commission – Presented by Stefaan Van der Spiegel, Belgium. Team Leader ‘Substances of human origin’, DG Santé, European Commission
• Challenges in kidney transplantation faced by Europe: what can be done? – Presented by Prof Raymond Vanholder, EKHA Chairman

This provided the occasion to launch the ‘Gift of Life’ Campaign, with a Call to Action and infographic illustrating disease burden, benefits of transplantation and opportunities for action.

Key learnings from discussions at the 2018 European Kidney Forum:

• There are disparities in access to kidney transplantation across Europe;
• The European Commission could play a greater role to foster increased cooperation, exchange of best practices between Member States while monitoring safety and quality standards;
• A number of initiatives (FOEDUS Joint Action, EDITH and EUDONORGAN projects), driven by the European Commission are currently gathering data on the varying landscapes with regards to organ donation and transplantation across member states: how does access to organ donation differ amongst EU countries, how is choice of treatment modalities (dialysis vs. transplantation) made, what is the impact of these differences on health expenditures and patient outcomes, etc.
• Increased education and awareness amongst donors AND patients is crucial to boost donation levels;
• Actions at national level should be adopted to encourage donations (incl. financial support to donors and patients, formal recognition of donors, widening of selection criteria for recruitment and registration, etc.)

EKHA launched its Call to Action, developed as part of the Gift Of Life campaign aimed to raise awareness on the need for a coordinated approach at EU level towards organ donation and transplantation. See more here.

Access the event’s presentations here.

Download the full 2018 European Kidney Forum report here