EU parliament acts to stamp out organ trafficking
MEPs have endorsed a key report recommending the introduction of a European donor card aimed at curbing organ shortages and illegal trafficking.
The report, by Cypriot deputy Adamos Adamou, says that organ trafficking “undermines” the credibility of the system for potential voluntary and unpaid donors.
The decision means the commission and member states will now be asked to take measures to prevent "transplant tourism", including drawing up guidelines to protect the poorest and most vulnerable donors from becoming victims of organ trafficking.
Deputies meeting at parliament’s monthly plenary in Strasbourg said they supported improved cooperation which leads to increased organ sharing between member states.
In particular, they say small countries with a limited donor pool will clearly benefit from improved cooperation.
The report says the commission should facilitate alliances between national transplantation organisations in member states, EU governments should also take measures to prevent insurance companies reimbursing costs incurred in obtaining illegal organ transplantation.
The report also asks the commission and Europol to do more to combat organ donation and transplant tourism. Organ donation must stay strictly non-commercial and voluntary, it says.
Reaction from MEPs was generally positive, with Belgian centre-right deputy Frieda Brepoels, rapporteur on the issue for her group, saying, "Although the number of organ donors has gradually increased over the past years, there remains an overall shortage of organs and a long waiting list of thousands of patients with a high mortality rate."
She said the debate in parliament on Tuesday showed that the issue of organ donation and transplantation is highly sensitive and complex.
Brepoels added that, "parliament is asking that hospitals dedicate enough staff to identify potential donors and to assist relatives of deceased persons. It is also important that hospitals generate enough attention for the positive results of transplantations.”
In Europe, 10,000 people are currently on a transplant waiting list. For many patients, the donor organ arrives too late - every day, ten patients in the EU die waiting for a donor organ.
