The Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention against the Trafficking in Human Organs, known as Santiago de Compostela Committee, organised its 5th Plenary meeting (2-3 December) in Strasbourg.

All 15 Parties gathered to discuss the latest developments in the area of the Trafficking of Human Organs, and respective tools to strengthen the implementation of the Convention and cooperation among themselves. The Committee welcomed the signature by Chile of the Convention.

Among other matters, the Committee focused on two key topics. The first issue was the review and discussion of the preliminary draft Summary Report of the responses received to the Country Profile Questionnaire on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs. The second important issue was the adoption by the Santiago de Compostela Committee of the questionnaire for the 1st monitoring round entitled Prevention and Awareness Mechanisms to Counter Trafficking in Human Organs. Both topics were thoroughly debated and analysed during the meeting.

The plenary meeting also served as a valuable platform for exchanging experiences among representatives from the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CD-BIO) and the Network of National Focal Points on Travel for Transplantation (NETTA).

For further information on topics discussed please refer to the Agenda of the meeting.