Out Of The Borders Medicine
“When you donate an organ, you donate a part of you” by Laura Andrés Tallarda
Human bodies are like puzzles made up of In 2019, Spain had the highest donor rate in the
trillions of pieces (cells) and of many organs. Last estimates of scientists put the number of cells at around 30 trillion. According to Live Science, the general count is 78 organs. But not every organ is necessary for survival. Only five organs — the brain, heart, liver, at least one kidney, and at least one lung are absolutely essential for living.
world at 46.91 per million people, followed by the US (36.88 per million), Croatia (34.63 per million), Portugal (33.8 per million), and France (33.25 per million).
While most organ and tissue donations occur
for the last 28 years, with 15 daily transplants, 20% of all donations from the European Union and 6% of world donations, according to the “Organización Nacional de Trasplantes” (ONT), despite the fact that Spain barely represents 9.1% of the European population and 0.6% of the world population.
The case of Spain, leader in organ donation for 28 years
Spain has been positioned as a world leader
after the donor has died, some organs, including a kidney or part of a liver or lung, and tissues can be donated while the donor is alive. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and other international organisms have policies that regulate how donor organs are matched and allocated to patients on The worldwide prestige of this system is due the waiting list. There are some common fac- to the organizational model managed by the tors in how organs are matched, such as blood National Transplant Organization and, on the type and how severe the patient’s illness is. other, the solidarity of the Spanish, since 86% of the families consulted authorize organ donation. Sometimes, donations to save lives are part of a race against the clock.
“In the world, it is estimated that about 2 mil-
lion people each year may need a transplant and about 140,000 are being performed. That is, the possibility of achieving it does not ex-
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