The World Day of Transplant Patients is celebrated on June 6 at a time when Spain can be more than proud in this section: the country has re-established itself as the world leader in the sector in 2012 with 4,211 transplants, according to the National Organization of Transplants (ONT).
Spain has revalidated the first position for 21 years and has become a benchmark for other nations and health systems thanks to what the ONT calls the Spanish Model.
The Spanish model
- The ONT highlights the value in the transplant sector of the so-called Spanish model, a set of measures that favor organ donation. The success of this pattern lies in a “multidisciplinary approach” in which economic, legal, political and medical aspects are intertwined, according to the organization’s website.
- The model establishes donation as a “limiting factor” when it comes to achieving an improvement in survival and increasing both the number of patients benefiting from a transplant and the demand for organs.
- This model is structured at a national, regional and hospital level through a hierarchical system of coordinators who maintain the organ donation quality program.
- Export the transplant model
The Spanish model can be transferred to other countries or regions if a series of requirements are met, such as the implementation of a universal coverage healthcare system, certain financial and personal resources, and population characteristics that favor donation.
According to the ONT, the European Union has recommended the adoption of this model on several occasions, and although some countries have partially adopted it, only Italy has exported the complete pattern.
The Spanish donation in figures
The numbers in terms of transplants offered by the ONT since its creation in 1964 are a reflection of the good health enjoyed by donation in Spain. Until last January 1, 86,180 organ transplants were carried out in this country. They are led by kidney transplants with 54,460 and liver transplants with 20,483. The figures for heart, lung and pancreatic transplants also stand out.
For its part, the number of donations has risen from 14 donors per million population to 34.6, which demonstrates the greatest citizen involvement in a sector that saves thousands of lives every year.