Draw Lessons From The Spanish Model With The Aim To Develop China Organ Donation And Transplantation System

Organ transplantation is one of the most significant life science achievements inthe20thcentury, and is considered the most effective treatment of organ failure.However, the transplant needs in every country are unmet due to organ shortage.Promoting organ donation is therefore of great importance. Based on voluntary and non-remunerated principles, organ donation can be categorized by living donation anddeceased donation. Because living organ donation would cause substantial harm to thedonor, deceased organ donation is considered as the better option.Spain is the world leader in deceased organ donation. After the establishment of itsinternationally recognized “Spanish Model” back in1989, the deceased organ donationrate in Spain has been increasing and remained the world’s highest for20consecutiveyears since1994. The essence of Spanish Model is about establishing and expanding anetwork of coordinators to identify potential donors, improve donation process andreduce family refusal. Meanwhile, the system continuously improves its performancethrough health statistics, standard operation procedure and organizational managementapproaches.In China, deceased organ donation only officially started in2013. Therefore,drawing lessons from Spain should be particularly emphasized. Compare with theSpanish model, China’s deceased organ donation system is facing several challenges inareas of legislation, organizational management and obtaining family consent. Based onthe success factors of the Spanish Model, China should take the following actions tofurther develop its organ donation and transplantation system, which includespromoting legislation for brain death, providing professional training and occupationalsupport for coordinators, improving organ donation and transplantation statistics,conducting amendment and supplement for organ allocation policy, providing assistanceto poor transplant patients while expanding the coverage of public health insurance ontransplantation related expenses, organizing regular communication with media andstrengthening international exchange and cooperation.