2023 confirms itself as a record year for organ donation and transplantation and Sardinian thirty-year-olds are the most willing to donate with 84.7%, while Trento is the most generous city in Italy with 78.1% of ‘yes expressed by its inhabitants on the identity card. This is what emerges from the fifth edition of the ‘Gift Index’ report, the report of the National Transplant Center (Cnt), in view of the World Day on Donations and Tissues scheduled for Sunday 14 April, which takes stock of the declarations of will to organ and tissue donation registered in the registers of over 7 thousand Italian municipalities during 2023.
If the absolute record of donations (over 2,000) and transplants (over 4,000) is confirmed in 2023, the other novelty of the report is the analysis of the propensity to donate in the different age groups at a regional level. The highest percentage of approval is that recorded by Sardinians between 31 and 40 years of age and it is precisely this age group that excels at a national level, with an average approval of 73.8%. Following are 41-50 year olds (73.1%) and 51-60 year olds (71.3%). The results of the collection among 18-30 year olds are less good, probably because they are less informed: among the youngest the average national consensus is 68.9% while those against are 31.1%. In this demographic category the highest percentage is that of “yes” registered among young Aosta Valley people (81.7%). But it is after the age of 70 that the percentage of those who oppose donation tends to rise exponentially: the “no” are 41.5% among those aged 71-80 and as many as 55% among those over eighty. A fact probably conditioned by the erroneous belief that organ donation in old age is not possible. To date, the Transplant Information System hosts just under 19 million registered declarations: 13.5 million yes and 5.5 million no.
“With the new project we want to encourage better management of our healthcare communication as much as possible”, underlines Quintavalle. Furthermore, specific national recommendations for healthcare companies will soon be published: “Our working group which brought together doctors and journalists is developing them – continues Berardi -. They will provide precise indications and will thus help healthcare facilities to develop effective communication strategies. As the two investigations have highlighted, there is a need for better collaboration between the media and health. Unclear communication can encourage the spread of fake news and this is quite evident in oncology. Cancer represents a major socio-health problem with over 3 million people involved in Italy alone. Correct communication on oncological diseases is crucial. And it is also with this objective that the second edition of the first university specialization course in ‘Communicating cancer, medicine and health‘ promoted by the Marche Polytechnic University”. The pandemic itself “has taught us how fundamental new forms of digital communication are – adds Boldrini -. Yet, the survey shows that 97% of healthcare facilities do not have their own Web TV. Sometimes even the most banal services are lacking In 14% of cases it is not possible to download or fill out forms directly online from the company website. While as many as 33% of users have never booked a healthcare service online. There is still a long way to go for a correct internal and external communication”.
It is estimated that “about a third of the news on cancer published on social media is false or inaccurate – states Elio Rosati, Regional Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva Lazio -. It means that millions of people risk reading fake news on a delicate topic. To ‘protect’ citizens need an alliance between doctors and information professionals.” Healthcare personnel “must learn to communicate correctly with the media and patients – concludes Antonio Magi, President of the Rome Medical Association -. New technologies can help us in our work and encourage direct and immediate contacts”.
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