As of: March 19, 2024, 6:22 a.m
By: Florian Neuroth
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From today (March 18th) organ donors can register online.
Can the poor donor numbers in Germany be increased like this?
Some doubt it.
Bonn – They save life after life: organ donors.
Anyone who agrees to allow organs to be removed in the event of brain death may be helping one of the thousands of sick people in Germany who urgently need a donated organ.
Until now, most people have regulated this by providing relevant information in a living will or carrying an organ donor card in their wallet.
This is no longer necessary from now on.
Since today, Monday (March 18th), potential donors can record their decision for or against donation online in the organ donation register.
The central electronic directory, which was actually planned to be launched two years ago, is intended to supplement the paper organ donation card.
On their own initiative and free of charge, people can use the new online portal to record whether they want to donate organs in the event of brain death and which organs they should be.
You can also declare that you are not available as a donor.
The declarations can be changed or revoked at any time, assures the operator of the register, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM).
Health Minister Lauterbach speaks of relief for doctors when it comes to organ donation
The new organ donation register should gradually replace the previous paper donor card and increase the number of urgently needed donations, said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) at the start on Monday.
Because the number of donors in Germany is actually low.
In 2023, just 965 postmortem organ donors were counted - that's low compared to other countries.
The organ donation register starts on March 18th.
Potential donors can record there whether they agree to have their organs removed after brain death or not.
© IMAGO/Karina Hessland/Steinach (montage)
With the online register, the federal government now wants to strengthen “the willingness to make decisions regarding organ donation,” according to the corresponding law that the Bundestag passed in 2020.
Regular food for thought on the topic is also planned.
A few weeks ago, Lauterbach spoke of making it easier for doctors to “clarify the willingness of a potential organ donor to donate quickly and reliably.” This is often a problem: Since the papers are missing or not found in an emergency, it is often unclear whether a deceased person with a suitable donation organ would have been willing to hand it over or not.
Organ donation register is intended to relieve relatives of difficult decisions
This should get better soon.
From July 1, 2024, collection hospitals can access the declaration, and the declarations can now be submitted.
From January 1, 2025, tissue donation facilities should also be able to access the data.
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The 24-hour access for the hospitals is not the only advantage for Lauterbach.
The register is also intended to relieve relatives of having to make a difficult decision in an emergency.
“A decision documented in the organ donation register ensures clarity and security,” the Federal Minister recently explained and also called on citizens to document their decision to donate organs.
Requirement for entry in the organ donation register: from 16 years of age and with a person with online ID function
Anyone who wants to register must be at least 16 years old and needs several documents: an identity card with online identification function (alternatively: electronic residence permit or eID card), the health insurance number and an email address.
Depending on whether registration takes place via smartphone or on a PC, an ID app and/or card reader are also required.
In a few months the whole thing should become a little easier and also work via the app of the respective health insurance company and GesundheitID (digital identity).
Declarations using organ donor cards or living wills remain possible, but the following applies: the most recent declaration is always valid.
The selection options online are the same as on the organ donor card.
A donation can be agreed to or rejected in general, certain organs can be excluded and the decision can also be transferred to another person - but only if they have agreed to it.
The Swiss had to take organ donation registers offline after data protection problems
The register is operated by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM).
This is an authority within the scope of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).
The institute assures that the data is stored securely on a server in Germany.
Only doctors and the hospitals' so-called transplant representatives could access the data.
It remains to be seen whether the new offer will lead to more donor organs.
According to the Tagesschau, similar registers in the Netherlands and Switzerland led to little or no increase in organ donations.
In Switzerland, the online register even had to be switched off in 2022.
There were gaps in data protection.
There will be a new attempt there next year.
German Patient Protection Foundation criticizes organ donation register as “half-hearted”
In Germany, experts do not expect the register to be a “game changer”.
Axel Rahmel, board member of the German Organ Transplantation Foundation, had already calculated last year: “We need millions of citizens to register,” which would probably take five to ten years.
Sabine Dittmar, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, was also not particularly optimistic: “With a register, organizational processes in the hospital will certainly run better.
But anyone who has not yet articulated their will will not be persuaded to do so by the register alone.”
The German Foundation for Patient Protection, however, complained that “people inexperienced with the Internet” were being excluded from the offer.
“The start of the organ donation register is half-hearted.
Because the federal and state governments prevent the citizen-friendly submission of the digital declaration,” said board member Eugen Brysch.
There is no data protection terminal in any passport office in Germany.
“This means that citizens do not have the opportunity to enter their decision for or against organ donation directly in the register on site.”
Lauterbach and Bavarian Minister of Health for objection resolution in organ donation
Meanwhile, politicians are already calling for “further steps to increase the willingness to donate,” as Bavarian Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) called for at the start of the register.
The new offer makes sense, but will not significantly eliminate the organ shortage.
Gerlach advocated the so-called contradiction solution.
This refers to a regulation under which the person concerned must have expressly objected to organ donation during their lifetime and then documented this.
Otherwise, he will be considered a potential organ donor after his death.
Gerlach sees two advantages: Everyone would have to deal with the issue and make a decision.
In addition, relatives would be relieved.
Federal Health Minister Lauterbach has been advocating for such a solution for years.
On Monday he reiterated this again.
He assumes that “in the long term we can only increase the number of organ donations by introducing the contradiction solution,” predicted the SPD minister.
Many people wanted to donate but would never become donors.
A contradiction solution could change that.
“We continue to have a very difficult situation,” emphasized Lauterbach.
“The number of organ donors who are registered or have ID remains far behind what we need.” There are currently 8,400 people on the waiting list for organ donation, but only around 900 organs are transplanted each year.
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