Swiss Review / April 2022 / No.2 20 Society SUSANNE WENGER At the end of last year, 1,434 anxious, hopeful people were on the official Swisstransplant waiting list for a new organ. In 2021, the phone call came too late for 72 people, who died while still waiting for a suitable organ. Organs from166 peoplewho diedwere transplanted in the same year. Although this was more than in the previous year, Switzerland’s organ donation rate is low compared to other countries. This does not appear to be down to any marked reluctance to donate organs. On the contrary, surveys show that the majority of the population are favourable to the idea. Nevertheless, only a relatively small number of people explicitly give their consent on an organ donor card. The Federal Council and parliament want tomaximise the potential for organ donation by altering the principle of consent. Since 2007, organ donation after death has been governed by an explicit opt-in model. It means that only people who have given their consent while still alive are permitted to be donors. The government is seeking to reverse this policy, whereby anyone who does not wish to donate their own organs must make this known during their lifetime. This is referred to as the presumed consent or opt-out model, which applies in several European countries including France, Italy, Austria and Spain. The organdonation rate in these countries is notably higher than in Switzerland. New research shows that this is attributable in part to the systemof presumed consent, said the Federal Council in its dispatch to parliament. Broader application The government decided to intervene after a campaign group in French-speaking Switzerland submitted a popular initiative called “Donate organs – save lives” in 2019, calling for a switch in favour of the opt-out system as well as strict implementation of the regime. For the Federal Council, this initiative overstepped the mark. In response, the government submitted to parliament an indirect counterproposal to amend the TransplantationAct, allowing for a broader application of the principle of presumed consent. Loved ones of the deceasedmust also be consulted, says the Federal Council. They should retain their current right to New proposal on organ donations – a good or a bad idea? Donor organs such as hearts, lungs and kidneys are in short supply in Switzerland. That’s why the Federal Council and parliament want to change the national organ donation system, moving from explicit to presumed consent. A referendum has been called on the issue, with voters due to give their verdict in May. A cooler box containing a donor heart arrives in the operating theatre at a Zurich hospital. Photo: Keystone
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