Spain is transplant leader

SPAIN has become a world leader in organ transplantation thanks to the hard work of the National Transplant Organisation and solidarity of the population. 

According to the World Transplant Registry, managed by the National Transplant Organisation (ONT), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Spain has the highest rate of organ transplants with 40.2 donors per million people in the population. 

Throughout the country there is an average of 13 transplants being carried out daily. Last year nearly 3,000 kidney transplants were carried out, along with 1,162 liver and 299 hearts.

The first half of 2016, according to provisional data from the ONT, reflects an increase of 11 per cent in the total number of donors and the number of heart-beating donors, who have been medically classed as brain dead, has increased by 58 per cent. 

With this increase, it is expected that by the end of the year the rate will be 42-43 donors per million people in the population.

In Europe the figures on organ donation and transplantation remain stable compared to 2014. In 2015, the rate of donation of the 28 countries that form the EU increased slightly to an average 20.8 donors per million people (19.8 in 2014). The number of transplants in the EU amounted to 32,707, compared with 31,881 in the previous year.

As for the waiting list, data from the Global Registry estimates that there are 56,504 Europeans waiting for a transplant of some sort.

In the USA, organ donation has increased to 28.2 donors per million people and Australia has increased to 18.1 donors per million people.

Last year there was a total of 119,873 transplanted organs in the world, representing an increase of 1.65 per cent compared to 2014.