According to Luxembourgish law, everyone is an organ donor, unless they specifically state, in writing, that they do not wish to be one. Application on the ground does look a bit different though.
According to data by Eurotransplant, only seven organ donors were registered in Luxembourg in 2018. This is two less than in 2017 and, in comparison to other European countries, a meagre result. Consequently, CSV MP Nancy Arendt asked in a parliamentary question: How can we increase the number of organ donations? Minister of Health, Étienne Schneider, has now responded.
Nancy Arendt wanted to know whether the grand-ducal regulation of 18 July 2018 requires improvements, whether the awareness campaigns of the last years have been fruitful and whether the creation of an electronic file may be useful.
The not-for-profit organisation Protransplant wants Étienne Schneider to deal quickly with the file which he inherited from ex-minister Lydia Mutsch. The former minister had been widely criticised for taking too long in implementing improvements. The current minister stated that nominations for the referent persons introduced by the Grand-ducal regulation were currently underway. These people are supposed to link hospitals and the "Service national de coordination des dons d'organes" (National service of organ donation coordination), which is provided by Luxembourg Transplant.
The electronic DSP, the "Dossier de soins partagé" (shared care record), should enable patients to indicate whether they would like to be an organ donor or not. The DSP is supposed to become operational this year. This patient record, which was first tested in 2015, technically should have been introduced in 2017.
Étienne Schneider's response to whether the efficacy of recent awareness campaigns was somewhat vague. He explained that he had no concrete figures, but that a study in April 2018 had found that 82% of questioned citizens had a positive attitude towards organ donation and that the not-for-profit Luxembourg Transplant, which is also backed by the government, is doing a lot of work in terms of raising awareness.
The Minister also didn't dwell on the poor implementation of the law of 25 November 1982. Christiane Bourg, the General Secretary of Protransplant approves of this law, which stipulates that everyone who does not specifically state their disagreement in writing, is an organ donor.
In reality, however, organs often are not extracted if the deceased was in favour of organ donation, but a family member is against it. This is not in accordance with the law, said Protransplant.
