Brussels, 22/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - To prevent organ trafficking and “transplant tourism”, the European Parliament has proposed a raft of measures, including a European donor card complementary to existing national schemes, a “transplant” hotline, with a single telephone number, to provide the public with better information 24 hours a day, greater cooperation between member states to increase the availability of organs, improving access to and the efficiency of transplant systems, and guaranteeing quality and safety. For ethical reasons and to preserve human dignity, organ donation must remain “strictly non-commercial”, and should be altruistic and voluntary, excluding payments between donors and recipients. While the use of organs for transplant has greatly increased in the EU over the last few years, the number of people needing a transplant is higher than the number of available organs. As a result, in Europe, there are “40,000 patients on transplant waiting lists and some 10 people die every day waiting for a transplant”, said Adamos Adamou (GUE/NGL, Cyprus), whose own initiative report on political action at EU level on the donation and transplant of organs was, on Tuesday 22 April, adopted in plenary session in Strasbourg by 653 votes to 14, with 16 abstentions (see EUROPE 9629).
More especially, the Parliament wants the European Commission to bring forward a proposal for a directive setting quality and safety requirements for organ donation throughout the EU (for Commission preparatory work on a transplant action plan and a directive on the quality and safety of grafts, see EUROPE 9609). The new legislative framework must not, however, add to the administrative burden nor put in question existing good practice or lead to a reduction in the number of potential and actual donors.
MEPs also call on (1) member states to repeal, by January 2010, any legislation which restricts the use of donated organs to their own territory, and the European Commission to facilitate alliances between member states national transplant bodies; and (2) the European Commission to promote research in biotechnology.
With regard to organ shortage and trafficking, Parliament calls on member states and the European Commission to take measures to prevent “transplant tourism”, including drawing up guidelines to protect the poorest and most vulnerable donors from being victims of organ trafficking. It also calls on member states to appropriate measures to prevent insurance companies from reimbursing costs incurred in obtaining an illegal organ transplant.
MEPs also call on the European Commission and Europol to improve the monitoring of cases of organ trafficking. They regret that “Europol did not come up with a survey on organ selling and trafficking because it claims that there are no documented cases”, and refer to Council of Europe and WHO reports which “give clear evidence that the organ trade is also a problem for EU member states”.
Belgian MEP and EPP-ED group rapporteur Frieda Brepoels welcomed they fact that “concrete action is finally being taken”. “The report proposes an integral approach based on three pillars: reinforced cooperation between member states, a directive for the quality and safety of organ donation and transplantation, and measures to fight the trafficking of organs,” she said. Brepoels tabled 56 amendments to the Adamou report for the vote in the environment-public health committee, all of which were adopted and formed the basis of a compromise between political groups. For the ALDE group, Dutch MEP Jules Maaten also welcomed the response to the Adamou report, particularly with regard to the European organ donor card. He felt, however, that more had to be done to raise awareness about the shortage of organs for transplant. (G.B.)