Statement by Secretary General Jagland: the Council of Europe invites Europeans to engage in discussions on organ donation
The European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation (EODD), established by the Council of Europe in 1996, will this year be officially celebrated in Chisinau (Republic of Moldova) on 13 October.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has encouraged governments to do more to make European citizens aware of the importance of organ donations as a way of improving the quality of life and reducing the number of deaths of patients waiting for transplants:
“Organ transplantation is one of the great medical success stories of the 20th century, over the past few decades it has improved the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of patients. The most recent data show that more than 144 000 patients are waiting for a transplant in Council of Europe member states, and each day, 18 patients on waiting lists die waiting for an organ that never arrived.”
“The human right to health and dignity also includes the recognition of all human needs for transplantation. All countries should progress towards meeting patients’ needs on the basis of the standard proposed by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare of the Council of Europe. On this day, I wish to highlight the importance of acknowledging organ donation as the ultimate gift of life.”
Organised in co-operation with the National Transplant Agency of the Republic of Moldova (Agenția de Transplant), the European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation will inform the public on organ donation and transplantation by means of a wide range of activities.
The Council of Europe European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM) is supporting the Day with a social media campaign to make everyone in Europe aware of the importance of organ donation and transplants to save lives.
#becomeasuperhero #organdonation #EODD2018
More information on European Organ Donation and Transplantation Day and on the work carried out by the Council of Europe.
