Organ donation in Lithuania is minimal and only serves about one sixth of patients in urgent need of a transplant. Experts in the medical field say that mistrust in the medical industry and religious dogma prevents more people from giving up their organs for donation after death.
Numbers of donors has been increasing according to statistics given by the National Transplantation Bureau (NTB). 2001 saw only 44 potential donors in Lithuania while 2007 had 95 potential donors listed. The trend has been increasing toward more donors.
There has also been a marked decline in family refusal to donate organs. Even if the deceased opted to offer his or her organs to others, the immediate family reserves the right to veto. The number of vetoes is still stifling the flow of useful organs for the needy.
Asta Kubiliene, director of the NTB said that there is a huge shortfall of organs.
"Every year in Lithuania about 800 people need organ and tissue transplants. There are not enough, because every year only about 130 people receive organ and tissues transplantations,” Kubiliene said.
"The same situation is in all countries – more people are on the waiting list than are doing transplantation,” Kubiliene added.
There are various reasons why people would not opt to donate or why someone in the family might stop the donation from happening. Kubiliene thinks the problems stem from ignorance of the process.
"The most popular family refusal is that the family doesn’t know the donor’s position in donation or the family doesn’t believe that the organ recipient could die. Sometimes they don’t understand the brain death concept, mistrust the medical system or they are afraid of body injury,” she said.
Dalius Ramacionis, head of the Lithuanian Medical Association said people are often not concerned about other people at times of grief and shirk responsibility.
"Death is often very painful for relatives psychologically and the families often don’t think about other people. Some people agree that their organs should be used, but this is only a small part of Lithuanian society. We need to talk about this in public and tell people how they can help other people,” Ramancionis said.
He believes it is often religious reasons that stop family members from letting the donation process go ahead.
"A lot of people, especially in the countryside with young people dying, want all of the body to go to God, but this is old-fashioned thinking. These young organs are very useful for transplantation,” he said.
Both Kubiliene and Ramancionis believe the situation will change with time and education. They told The Baltic Times that a larger net of organ collection needs to be established.
"It’s the global question of the world – the list recipients list grows every year on one side, and the other side is doing more transplantation,” Kubiliene said.
"Somewhere in the world every 12 seconds someone dies from head trauma, which means their organs are very useful,” Ramancionis noted about the number of potential donors that arrive every day in the world.
"We need a European system with modern information centers that show when new organs are available. This is a situation that changes every minute,” he added.
Currently a long running ad campaign is underway to encourage people to give organs to others.
"We think, that every campaign is good, because more and more people in families speak about donation and transplantation; a lot of people/families heard about donation for the first time and they can say yes to donation more easily,” Kubiliene said.
FACT BOX: (info from www.transplantacija.lt)
How can I obtain the Donor Card? The Donor Card will be issued after you have signed a consent form to become a donor, i.e. that your tissues and (or) organs may be used for transplantation after you die.
Where can I sign the consent to become a donor? The consent statement form can be filled in at any health care institution (clinic, hospital etc.) or when you visit your family doctor.
What documents will I need to become a donor? When the consent is signed in the presence of a doctor, you must show an identification document with a photograph. This could be a passport, an ID card, driving license or student ID card.
Do I need a health check before signing the Donor consent form? No, when you sign the consent form you do not need to undergo any health test. The suitability of organs and/or tissues for transplantation is checked after the death of the person.
Can I consent to donation of only certain organs? Yes, when you sign the Donor consent form, you can choose which organs you agree to donate – ‘any,’ ‘all, except those specified’ or ‘only certain specified.’
Can I change my mind? Yes, if any time later for any reasons you change your mind and decide against becoming a donor; you just need to write a request to the National Transplantation Bureau (NTB) asking them to delete you from the Register of Donors and Recipients of Human Organs and Tissues.
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