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In recent years, the transplantation of organs has
continued to develop as a successful form of treatment for life-threatening
conditions resulting from organ failure. The transplantation of
a kidney is now the most cost-effective form of treatment for
renal failure and is almost always preferable to kidney dialysis.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to realise the full potential
of advances in transplantation surgery because of the severe shortage
of donor organs both in the UK and, more widely, across the European
Union as a whole.
In May 2007, the European Commission issued a Communication
relating to organ donation and transplantation. This made a number
of proposals for actions, at Community and Member State levels,
which were designed to help increase the supply of donor organs
across the EU. The two major elements were: first, the introduction
of a directive aimed at setting standards for the quality and
safety of organ donation and transplantation across the EU; and,
second, the establishment of an action plan for closer cooperation
between Member States in sharing experiences and best practice.
This Report brings together evidence relating to
the Commission's proposals and draws conclusions about their merits.
In order to put these conclusions in context, the Report also
sets out the evidence we received about a range of matters relating
to organ donation which are not within Community competence but
which are, nevertheless, of central relevance to the main issue
which the Commission's Communication addresses, namely, the shortage
of organs for donation.
During the inquiry, the Department of Health's Organ
Donation Taskforce published a number of recommendations for the
re-organisation of the health infrastructure in the UK which had
the aim of increasing the supply of donor organs available for
transplant. The inquiry also coincided with the publication of
a proposal, by the Chief Medical Officer for England, that current
legislation in England should be changed in order to create a
"presumed consent" or "opt-out" system for
organ donation in place of the existing "opt-in" system.
The Report covers the evidence we received in relation to both
these issues.
Our conclusion is that the proposals set out in the
Commission's Communication would help to raise the numbers of
organs available for transplantation as well as the overall safety
and quality of those organs. We see it as important, however,
that the proposed directive on the quality and safety of organs
should not be overly bureaucratic and that it should not inhibit
the application of expert clinical judgement and informed patient
choice.
While the scope of Community competence in relation
to organ donation is limited, we take the view that the Commission's
proposals usefully stimulated our inquiry to assess a wider range
of important, closely related issues. We hope that this Report,
in addition to its primary purpose of contributing to the future
development of sound proposals at Community level, will make a
valuable contribution to the aim of improving the performance
of organ donation and transplantation activities in the UK.
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