In Italy, donations and transplants continue to grow, but there are still around 8 thousand patients on the waiting list: for this reason, the specialists invite, it is necessary for more and more citizens to give consent to donation after death, especially by registering the just ‘yes’ when renewing your identity card. ‘Declare your Yes in the Municipality’: this is precisely the message at the center of the twenty-seventh National Day for organ and tissue donation, which is celebrated today thanks to the commitment of the Ministry of Health, the National Transplant Center and voluntary associations of the gift and with the support of Rai for Sustainability.
At this moment, the Ministry of Health and the National Transplant Center point out, around 6 thousand patients are waiting for a new kidney, just under a thousand for a liver, around 700 for a heart, over 200 for a lung and the same number for a pancreas.
Although last year the number of organ donations exceeded 2,000 for the first time, allowing almost 4,500 transplants to be carried out (over 15% more than in 2022), the number of organs that become available is still not sufficient to ensure transplants for all patients who need them.
“Scientific research in the field of transplants is going very fast, we have also demonstrated this in Italy with the great development of still-heart donation, but innovation is not enough”, says the director of the National Transplant Center Giuseppe Feltrin. “The hope of those waiting for an organ remains linked to the choice of donation, yet even today around a third of citizens who register their wishes choose to deny consent to the removal. Behind these understandable hesitations, however, there is sometimes little knowledge of the topic. This is why it is important to inform yourself to make an informed decision: donating organs is a safe choice, which costs nothing to those who make it but which saves the lives of those who benefit from it”.
Schillaci, ‘donating organs is a lifestyle choice, we say Yes when we renew our identity card. Gesture that makes the difference‘
“Donating organs is a natural choice, a gesture that can make the difference for those who are waiting for a transplant today. When we renew our identity card, we make a life choice and say Yes to donation”. This was stated by the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, on the occasion of the National Day for organ and tissue donation.
“Our transplant system – underlines Schillaci – is at the forefront in terms of the quality of the services provided and the capacity for care and assistance, and is already projected towards the main technological and organizational challenges that are redesigning healthcare systems around the world. Our task is to accompany the introduction of these innovations for the benefit of patients.” Yet, the minister notes, “without the Yes to donation, even the most technologically advanced system would not be able to proceed with the transplant.
And again: without that Yes, the efforts of our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, to whom I renew my thanks, would be in vain.”
“Donating – he concludes – is a natural choice, a gesture that can make the difference for those who are waiting for a transplant today”.
Organ donation, a campaign starts in the registry offices Promoted by the Ministry of Health and the National Transplant Center
A major awareness campaign for organ donation is underway: it will be implemented in the registry offices and is promoted by the Ministry of Health and the National Transplant Center (Cnt).
By April, the ministry and the CNT explain on the occasion of the National Day for Organ and Tissue Donation which is being celebrated today, new information displays (roll-ups, posters and posters) thanks to which citizens waiting to renew their identity document will be able to receive verified and correct information on the donation, in order to make an informed choice when their turn comes at the counter.
The initiative will continue in the following months and by the end of the year there will be 1,500 registered offices and over 1,100 municipalities reached, with a territorial coverage of almost 40 million resident citizens.
The Ministry and the CNT remind you that in addition to the time of renewing your identity card, you can also declare your yes to the donation by registering with Aido, or at the appropriate ASL offices, and finally just by writing your wish on a piece of paper. plain paper dated and signed to carry with you.
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