The rate of Spanish donors is the highest in the world, and its transplant system the best. In the last five years Spain has registered the greatest increase in donors since 1989, achieving in 2018 a rate of 48 donors for every million inhabitants, 2,243 in total, and for the 27th consecutive being the world leader in donations and transplants, according to the latest balance of activity from the National Transplant Organisation (ONT), presented this week by the Ministry of Health.
Maria Luisa Carcedo, Minister of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare pointed out that “these are very difficult figures to achieve, given that we are starting from a position of excellence, with little space to improve. But throughout its history, the ONT, with its high level of self commitment, has demonstrated its ability to continue increasing both the quality and the quantity of the transplants that we carry out in our country.”
For the director of ONT, Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, last year’s good results are explained by some of the measures already adopted by the Spanish transplant system to optimise the donation of organs, brought together in the 50X22 Plan, which seeks to reach 5o donors per million inhabitants and exceed 5,500 transplants in 2022. Among these the development of asystole donation and is transformation into multi-organ donation, as well as collaboration with intensive care teams and other hospital services, especially A&E, stand out.
The Minister insisted that the difference with other countries is abysmal, comparing the 48 donors per million inhabitants with the EU average of 22.3 and 31.7 in the US.