Organ Donation Network Integration Delayed by Covid

THE organ donation network integration of private healthcare has been delayed by Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had many negative effects in the health sector but one not on everyone’s radars is the delay of the integration of private healthcare into the Spanish network for organ donation. Organ donation cannot be overlook as it saves many lives each year.

In 2019 the Spanish National Transplant Organisation (ONT) celebrated its 30th anniversary and in January 2019 the Minister for Health, Consumption and Social Well-being, María Luisa Carcedo said “The ONT is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2019 and doing so by beating its own record once again after reaching a rate of 48 donors per million population and surpassing 5,300 organ transplants, including all-time highs in kidney and lung transplantation.

“Donations from non-heart-beating donors also increased by 10 per cent, consolidating their position as the main driving force behind the increase in organ donations: one in three donors are now asystolic donors.”

The integration agreement was made in February 2019 and later approved in September, but the pandemic has delayed the project.

On Monday Secretary of State for Health, Silvia Calzón said that she is working on the integration. According to forecasts the integration would increase the number of organ donations by 10 per cent, which would result in an additional 400 transplants each year.

The pandemic has severely hit Spain and that has had a knock-on effect on the number of transplants carried out. According to the ONT in 2020 over 1,000 fewer transplants occurred than in 2019, and donations have fallen drastically.

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