Organ Donation Day
Frankfurt (ots)
“Decide” is the urgent appeal for the 41st nationwide organ donation day. Educational campaigns in many cities in Germany are intended to introduce people to the topic and encourage them to make a decision. The central event will take place on June 3rd in Düsseldorf and traditionally focuses on clarification and thanksgiving. Under the motto “Time to set an example”, the importance of organ donation is made comprehensible in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital with numerous campaigns and information offers. The appeal for a decision falls on fertile ground in Düsseldorf. The city-wide campaign “#DüsseldorfEntscheidetSich” started here in September 2022.
Federal Minister of Health, Prof. Karl Lauterbach and Karl-Josef Laumann, Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, will officially open the day of organ donation.
In view of the declining number of organ donations in the past year, Federal Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach calls for people to use the day of organ donation to find out more, to make a personal decision and to document it. “Only in this way can you be sure that your personal will will be implemented, that your relatives will be relieved of a difficult decision and that you will have the chance to help other people after your death. Show solidarity with the people on the waiting lists. Organ donations save lives , possibly that of your family, friends or even your own.”
In order to improve the situation of the lack of documentation of the will, the “Act to Strengthen Decision-Making in Organ Donation” came into force on March 1, 2022. An important component is the online register, in which citizens can digitally store their decision for or against an organ and tissue donation and which is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2024. Experiences from other countries show, however, that generally less than half of the population takes advantage of the opportunity to register.
For this reason, on the day of organ donation, Federal Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach advocates reconsidering changing the law and discussing the introduction of the opt-out solution in Parliament: “We owe that to those who wait in vain for organ donations. The opt-out solution gives everyone the freedom to decide, decide about their organs themselves. At the same time, it is an impetus to deal with the topic. Above all, however, the introduction of the opt-out solution offers the opportunity for a paradigm shift in organ donation.”
Many experts in the field of organ donation and transplantation are of the same opinion that such a regulation would promote the active engagement of each individual with the topic. The Medical Director of the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO), Dr. medical Axel Rahmel sees the objection solution as an important approach to promoting a culture of organ donation in Germany and expects additional positive synergies in the clinics. At the same time, however, Rahmel points out that a change in the law can only create the framework in which everyone involved in the joint task of organ donation can move. “The most important thing is that we pull together and don’t lose sight of the real goal: the patients on the waiting lists. If we want to help people, we have to look for practicable solutions far away from all political or ideological debates and implement them hand in hand,” demands Rahmel.
When in doubt, relatives often do not give their consent
The statistics of the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation from 2022 make it clear that a major reason for the low number of organ donations was the lack of consent to organ donation. In 2022, only 15 percent of all possible donors had a written declaration. Far too often, the relatives had to be asked to make a decision. If they decided based on the presumed will of the deceased, the approval rate was 54 percent. If the relatives had to decide solely according to their own values, however, in almost 80 percent of the cases there was no consent to the organ donation. And this despite the fact that the representative surveys of the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) regularly show that over 80 percent of the population have a positive attitude towards organ and tissue donation. This clearly shows how difficult it is for families to make this decision on behalf of someone else. A decision that could potentially save lives. Prof. Dr. Martin Dietrich, Acting Director of the BZgA, motivates the decision: “My request to you: Take the day of organ donation as an opportunity to talk to family and friends about organ donation, make your decision and record it in an organ donor card. Although we observe a predominantly positive attitude towards organ donation in Germany, too few people have documented their decision. The BZgA supports you with answers to your questions at organspende-info.de.”
Low levels of organ donation
The organ donation figures of the past year, which mark a new low point, show that there is an urgent need for action. There were 869 postmortem organ donors nationwide, a decrease of almost 7 percent compared to 2021. In the first four months of this year, the number of organ donations has approached the level of previous years after the slump in 2022. From January to April 2023 there were 311 organ donors nationwide. As a result, 954 organs could be reported to the international agency Eurotransplant for transplantation. Although the results are significantly higher than those in the comparative period of 2022, they are still below those of 2020 and 2021.
It is all the more important to set an example nationwide and to draw the attention of the population to the fate of the around 8,500 people who are waiting for a life-saving transplant, all organizers of the day of organ donation agree.
Patient associations say “THANK YOU”
40 years ago, self-help organizations created the day of organ donation in order to symbolically say “thank you” to the people who decided to donate their organs.
“We have successful transplantation medicine in Germany and yet patients who could have been helped with a transplant die every day. Every organ counts and can mean a life-and-death decision for a person on the waiting list,” explains Sandra Zumpfe , Chair of the Board of the Federal Association of Organ Transplants (BDO). Sandra Zumpfe knows exactly what she is talking about. A heart transplant saved her life in 2013 at the age of 35, and four years later her husband donated a kidney. Since then she has been living happily and enjoying her new life with gratitude.
The transplant recipients make their gratitude towards the organ donors visible every year with the “Gift Years of Life” campaign and give organ donation many faces.
Event on the day of organ donation – the highlight is the campaign “Gift years of life” with Federal Minister of Health Prof. Karl Lauterbach as patron
This year’s day of action in Düsseldorf begins in the Basilica of St. Lambertus with an ecumenical thanksgiving service, in which all organ donors, their families and all people who work 365 days a year around the clock for organ donation and make it possible are thanked . Federal Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach and NRW Minister Karl-Josef Laumann will open the official part of the program at 1 p.m. on Schadowplatz. A particular highlight is the “Gift Years of Life” campaign. With a very emotional moment, she makes organ donation visible as a gift of life: organ transplant recipients from all over Germany show signs with the additional number of years that a transplant has given them. This year, Federal Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach is taking over the patronage of the campaign. At 3 p.m. there will be a round of talks with the Mayor of Düsseldorf, Dr. Stephan Keller, the patron of the event.
The information lounge on Schadowplatz enables meetings with organ recipients, relatives of donors, people waiting for an organ, and doctors and nurses who are committed to organ donation. They tell their personal stories and provide answers to questions that concern people and that can help them in their personal decisions. Walk-in organ models, a teddy bear hospital and many activities invite you to take part. Anyone who would like to make their own mark on Schadowplatz can do so as part of a photo campaign or by attaching a heart with a message to the “Tree of Life”. From June 1st to 4th, the Rheinturm will shine in the colors of the organ donor card.
Organizers of this year’s Organ Donation Day include the patient associations Federal Association of Organ Transplants eV, Federal Association of Kidneys eV and Liver Transplants Germany eV, the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), the German Foundation Organ Transplantation (DSO), the Foundation About Life, the Network Donor Families, the Organ Donation Network NRW and the German Transplantation Society (DTG).
You can find the entire program for organ donation day on June 3 in Düsseldorf here: Program for organ donation day 2023 in Düsseldorf
All information about the activities taking place in Düsseldorf on June 3rd can be found here:
www.tagderorganspende.de
www.facebook.com/TagderOrganspende
www.instagram.com/tag_der_organspende
More about the campaign in Düsseldorf
Campaign #DüsseldorfDecides
Current statistics on organ donation and transplantation in Germany and in the seven DSO regions can be downloaded from the DSO website:
Organ donation statistics
Organ transplant statistics
Press contact:
Organ Donation Day c/o Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation
Birgit Blome, Head of Communications,
Nadine Körner I Dr. Susanne Venhaus, Press and
public relation
Deutschherrnufer 52, 60594 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 69 677 328 9401, -9400
Mobil: +49 170 5724503
Fax: +49 69 677 328 9409
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.dso.de
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Original content from: Organ Donation Day, transmitted by news aktuell