5 times higher registration rate for organ/tissue donation… Promotion of organ donation

In order to promote donation of organs such as kidneys and liver, skin, and human tissues such as heart valves, the government will expand the registration institutions that wish to donate to public health centers and driver’s license testing centers. In this way, the goal was to increase the registration rate for organ donation hopes by five over five years.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 23rd that it has finalized the’Basic Plan for Activating Long-Term and Human Tissue Donation (2021-2025)’ after deliberation at the Ministerial Meeting on Social Relations. This plan is the first comprehensive support plan established by the government to promote organ donation. It presents policy directions and goals for the next five years, and contains support plans to increase donation.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of people waiting for transplantation increased from 2016 to last five years from 26,584 → 29,822 → 32,720 → 35,257 → 3,8152, but the number of brain-dead organ donors has increased from 573 over the past five years → Rather, it decreased from 515 people → 449 people → 450 people → 478 people. As a result, the government decided that the imbalance between supply and demand was growing due to the lack of public consensus on organ donation, and thus began to prepare countermeasures.

Yoon Tae-ho, the public health policy officer of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, “We are planning to increase the number of brain death donors per 1 million people, from 8.7 to 15, and the number of tissue donors from 2 to 2.8.”

The government is: ▶Proliferation of life-sharing culture and registration for donation wishes ▶Increase brain death donation of medical institutions and strengthen management functions ▶Establish donation standards for healthy and ethical survival ▶Realize the courtesy of socially recognized donors ▶Quick support for donation procedures and new donation sources The formation of consensus was selected as the five major tasks.

First of all, it establishes a PR and education strategy centering on the National Organ Organization Blood Management Center, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Welfare, and raises public participation and interest by cooperating with private organizations and organizations that carry out life-sharing movements. In order to revitalize donation of organs, etc. and to lay the foundation for raising positive awareness of life-sharing, a new basis for life-sharing education will be established in the organ transplant method.

The registration agency will be expanded to national health centers and driver’s license test centers so that those with a will to donate organs and tissues can easily register. Currently, there are 444 registrars nationwide. In addition, it plans to link information such as the health insurance system so that medical institutions can easily identify those who wish to donate.

According to a government survey conducted last year, 61.6% of 1,000 Koreans answered that they are willing to donate organs, but only 14.6% of respondents actually registered for donation. When asked why the participation rate was low, 30.4% of respondents said they did not know how to register or that the process was complicated. In the future, the government plans to operate a chatbone and online counseling channel so that people who wish to donate can find necessary information when registering. Through this, it also suggested a goal to raise the registration rate for organ and tissue donation from the current 3% level to 15% in 2025.

The expansion of support related to medical institutions is also reviewed. The government decided to review the application of fees to medical institutions that reported suspected brain death to the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Institute. Two people are dispatched from the Korea Organ Tissue Donation Center to medical institutions that are specialized in medical treatment agreements to help them find donors and support the management of brain deaths. In addition, a donation activation program will be distributed to each medical institution, and each institution will be able to analyze the donation process and identify obstacles.

It also operates a regular counseling center to educate medical personnel, such as refresher training for doctors and nurses, and to provide practical support in case of actual donation. Administrative procedures such as complex consent forms that make it difficult to’timely donate’ will be simplified, and the linkage between the life-sustaining medical decision system and organ donation-related systems will be strengthened to consider whether to introduce matters requiring social consensus.

It will also strengthen support for living donors and their families. Last year, Korea’s brain-dead organ donors were 478 people, and surviving organ donors were 3891 people. First, for the health management of living donors, objective medical standards such as the Transplantation Society are established, and if pure donations are made to others, the support will be changed from one support within one year to three times every two years after the donation and health check-up. If the donor is working, the compensation for paid leave will also be expanded.

For the bereaved family, the staff in charge of the Korea Organ Organizations Donation Center will support funeral services and other courtesy services, as well as consultation and donor memorial album production, as well as a support standard. In addition, it will provide support for psychological counseling and self-help meetings for the survivors, and plan to prepare a plan for the state agency to deliver letters instead so that they can express consolation and gratitude to the survivors.

In order to prepare a memorial cultural space to commemorate the life of the donor and to honor the donor, a new ordinance will be established in cooperation with local governments, including exemptions and discounts for community service charges. However, direct exchange between the parties is limited because there is a possibility of monetary demand for organ trading and organ donation from the time the organ transplant law was enacted.

Finally, a revision of the law will be implemented to simplify the donation process and improve administrative aspects that are far from the situation of the donor’s surviving family. There has been a problem that the confirmation of senior donor consent holders has been delayed due to changes in family members, such as an increase in single-person households, and the problem is that the bereaved family of the donor is complicated and the difficulty of completing many related consent forms.

In order to alleviate the supply-demand imbalance problem that is difficult to solve within the current system, the social and cultural conditions related to issues that require social consensus, such as respect for self-decision, linking the life-long medical decision system, organ donation after cardiac arrest, and supplementation of the brain death judgment procedure, should be established. We are also planning to continue our efforts.

Reporter Lee Tae-yoon [email protected]