Common EU standards on organ donation adopted
On the 19th of May 2010, the European Parliament voted on a proposed directive in order to set common EU quality and safety standards on organ transplants. These standards were passed with 643 votes against 16. In addition, the Commission's 2010 – 2015 work plans on organ donation and transplantation was approved by the parliament.
Previously, organ transplant has been a major problem with 60,000 people on the waiting lists and 12 people dying every day due to being on the waiting list. This resulted in an increase in illegal organ trafficking which can have disastrous consequences, particularly for the donor.
So this development has been welcomed.
In December 2008, a proposal for a directive on “Standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation” and a 10 point action plan were released on this topic. The purpose of these published documents was to strengthen the efficiency and the availability of the current system as well as to improve how procedures of transplants are carried out. This directive is likely to come into being later in 2010 from which time the member states will have two years to transpose it into national law.
As part of these new rules, each EU Member State will have to create a national authority responsible for making sure that the procedures for organ transplants are of a good quality and are safe. Additionally, all organ donations are to be voluntary and unpaid, except in certain circumstances strictly limited to compensation for "expenses and inconveniences related to the donation". Member States will also have to ban any advertising which persuades to donate organs for financial gain.
Lastly, it was proposed that there should be a certification system to show that organs have been got legally as well as a database providing information on a specific donated organ.