Concern at organ regulation plan

THE IRISH Kidney Association has expressed concern at proposed new measures to regulate the safety of organ donations and transplantations.

The association yesterday accused the Government of taking the “cheap and cheerful route” in transposing an EU directive which sets out a common framework for human organs intended for transplantations.

The directive, which is being transposed by means of statutory instrument rather than legislation, requires member states to designate a competent authority to oversee the quality of arrangements and to supervise exchanges with other countries.

The department has proposed that the Irish Medicines Board will be the competent authority responsible for regulating transplantation centres, but says that the Health Service Executive will also have key functions such as the development of national standards and registers as well as responsibility for organ exchange.

However, association chief executive Mark Murphy claims that by adopting this approach, the Department of Health will end up with two “semi-competent authorities” with no leadership in the area.

The directive stipulates that organs be procured in dedicated facilities under the supervision of a medical doctor. Organs must be traceable and information about the medical history of the donor must be supplied.

Organ donation must be voluntary and unpaid, but donors can be compensated for expenses and loss of income. Advertising the need for, or availability of, organs is banned.

A shortage of donor organs has led to long waiting lists in many countries. Some 60,000 Europeans are currently waiting for a transplant; in Ireland, more than 500 people are on the waiting list for organ transplants.

Mr Murphy was speaking after returning at the weekend from Croatia, where the Irish team won 50 medals in the 7th European Transplant Dialysis Games held in Zagreb.

The 26-strong team picked up 14 gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze, placing Ireland third in the medals table after France and Slovenia out of 28 participating countries.

Mr Murphy pointed out that Croatia had a waiting list of only 170 people, despite having a greater population than Ireland and a lower GDP.

“It shows that better organisation can cut the waiting times for transplantations. Dialysis is costing Ireland a small fortune, and transplantations offer a major fix for that.”