International Organ Exchange
Exchange between EU member states
In 2010 European Union legislation was passed that encourages the exchange of organs between EU member states. This was an important step to increase the number of available organs within the Union. Member states are also encouraged to establish written agreements with European organ exchange organizations, on condition that EU quality and safety requirements are met.
Most EU member states are already involved in cross-border organ exchange, either through bilateral agreements and/or broader alliances such as Eurotransplant. These agreements provide a guarantee that the EU framework is adhered to, and that specific tasks are assigned in relation to cross-border exchanges also beyond EU borders.
Agreements with European Organ Exchange Organizations
Over the years, Eurotransplant has signed agreements with 17 other organ exchange organizations. These agreements ensure that so called surplus organs for which no suitable recipient could be found within the own country can be offered to a suitable recipient in another country.
Eurotransplant aims to cooperate with as many partners in Europe as possible so that even more organs can be exchanged internationally in future and more patients can benefit from life-saving organ transplantation.
Agreements made:
Scandiatransplant (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Estonia)
1995
Poltransplant – Poland
2000
Slovak Transplant – Slovakia
2001
Agence de la biomédecine – France
2001
Swisstransplant – Switzerland
2001
Centro Nazionale Trapianti – Italy
2003
Stradiņa Klīniskā universitātes slimnīca – Latvia
2008
Transplant Coordinating Center, Prague – Czech Republic
2008
Hellenic Transplant Organization – Greece
2008
Nationalinis Transplantacijos Biuras – Lithuania
2010
National Transplant Center – Israel
2011
Organización Nacional de Trasplantes – Spain
2011
Bulgarian Executive Agency for Transplantation – Bulgary
2013
Organ Donation Transplant Ireland – Ireland
2017
Romanian National Transplant Agency – Romania
2017
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Montenegro – Montenegro
2018
NHS Blood and Transplant – United Kingdom
2019
Limiting factor in international exchange
Although international organ exchange increases the chance of an optimal donor-recipient match, a major limiting factor in international organ exchange is the cold ischemia time (this is the time the organ is cold-stored – during transportation – and remains outside the human body). Organs with short cold ischemia times are less suitable for long-distance transports. Improvements in machine perfusion techniques might provide a solution to this problem in the near future.