About Eurotransplant
Prerequisites for new Eurotransplant (ET) member countries
Prior to becoming a member of the ET community, new countries must fulfill a number of prerequisites. The following prerequisites in the field of organ donation and -transplantation, medical knowledge and legislation represent transparent and objective criteria to be met by new ET member countries.
Formal and legal prerequisites
- Work in accordance with the (most recent version of the) WHO guiding principles on human cell, tissue and organ transplantation.
- Directive on standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation.
- Acceptance of the principles for cooperation described in the:
- ET Manual
- Articles of Association of ET
- General conditions
- Non-commercialization of organ donation.
- Defined brain death definition and diagnostic procedures.
- Regulations for accreditation of transplant centers.
- Data safety and protection principles / legislation.
- Commitment to collect and deliver transplant follow-up data to improve organ allocation.
- Legislation allowing organ exchange with ET partner countries based on commonly agreed ET allocation principles.
- Organ donation rate at time of full membership should be above approx. 10 pmp.
If this goal is not yet reached, it must be reasonable to assume - based on the development in organ donation over the preceding years and the measures taken in this area - that a donation rate above 10 pmp will be achieved within the near future.
Logistical prerequisites
- 24/7 duty for:
- Organ procurement
- Organ offering and
- HLA-typing and cross-matching (by EFI accredited lab)
- Standardized donor characterization: blood count, clinical chemistry, serology infectious diseases
- Clearly defined contact persons for ET.
- Official language within the ET community is English:
- All donor related information has to be provided in English language by the organ procurement organizations
- Reporting of all donors to ET.
- Standardized transport logistics allowing safe and timely (acceptable cold ischemic time according to current medical standards) transport of:
- Donor organs (to and from other member country centers)
- HLA sera (to and from the Eurotransplant Reference Laboratory (ETRL) and other ET-HLA labs)
- Defined responsibilities and contact institutions for financial settlements:
- Registration and procurement costs
Medical prerequisites
- Standardized and qualified:
- Brain death definition and diagnostic procedures (according to national regulations)
- Donor evaluation and pretreatment
- Donor organ explantation by experienced team
- Donor organ packing and transportation
- Accreditation of HLA-laboratory by European Foundation for Immunogenetics (EFI) and continuous and successful participation in proficiency testing of the ETRL.
