The National Day for Organ and Tissue Donation, which will be held on Sunday, April 14th, aims to raise awareness about the importance of consent for organ donation after death. According to data provided by the APSS (Provincial Health Services Agency), 2023 was an extremely positive year for organ, tissue, and cell donations and transplants in Italy. For the first time in the country’s history, organ donations exceeded two thousand, reaching a total of 2,042 (+11.6%), while transplants exceeded four thousand in a year: in 2023, 4,462 organ transplants were performed, representing a 15.1% increase compared to 2022. These results not only represent unprecedented absolute numbers, but also the highest annual growth rates ever recorded.
In the province of Trento, during 2023, 17 kidney transplants, 26 liver transplants (including one on a child), four heart transplants (including two on children), and two lung transplants were performed. There was also a donation of organs after cardiac death, a still rare method at the national level that offers new possibilities to patients in need of a transplant. It is important to note that donation does not only involve organs, but also tissues: many people donated corneas, allowing 62 people from Trento to regain their sight through a transplant. Furthermore, many women donated cord blood at the time of their children’s birth in the province’s hospitals.
Despite these positive results, the waiting list for a transplant in the province of Trento remains long: 32 people are waiting for a kidney transplant to free themselves from dialysis, 11 need a liver transplant, four are waiting for a heart, three for lungs, one person needs a pancreas, and one needs an intestine.
The province of Trento has a donation rate per million people (pmp) of 35.1%, an improvement compared to the previous year (31.4%), and significantly higher than the national average (28.2%). However, there has also been an increase in opposition to donation, both from citizens during their lifetime and from family members who have to decide for them when they have not expressed any wishes regarding donation. This is why it is crucial to continue to inform and raise awareness about the importance of donation.
In 2023, 31 people who could potentially have donated organs died in Trento’s intensive care units: out of 18, it was possible to proceed with the donation; some revealed incompatible diseases during the evaluation process, while eight did not donate because they had expressed their refusal. The province of Trento remains at the forefront nationally regarding consents given by citizens during their lifetime (oppositions are only 20.2% compared to the national average of 31.5%), but every “no” to donation means denying hope of healing or survival to those who are waiting.
Anyone who expresses the will to donate organs after their death can save people suffering from diseases for which there are no other cures except transplantation. Furthermore, it can enable the restoration of sight for people with ocular injuries or resolve other health problems for which there are no other therapeutic options.
To raise public awareness about the importance of consent for organ donation after death, the National Day for Organ and Tissue Donation was established, which will be celebrated this year on Sunday, April 14th. Trentino also participates in the initiative by promoting informative and promotional events on the culture of donation and transplantation. On Friday, April 19th, at 8 pm, an informational evening on donation will be held at the oratory of the Municipality of Storo, while on Saturday, April 20th, from 10 am to 1:30 pm, a morning of sun exploration will be organized in Piazza San Francesco in Pergine Valsugana, in collaboration with the association Eitsa – Eye in the Sky, to reflect on what is close to us but at the same time distant: the sun as a symbol of the possibility to donate. These initiatives are promoted by the Provincial Transplant Center of the Provincial Health Services Agency and AIDO (Italian Association for Organ, Tissue, and Cell Donation) Trento, in collaboration with the Municipalities of Storo and Pergine Valsugana.
The National Day dedicated to organ and tissue donation and transplantation serves as a reminder that it is not just about complex words or abstract concepts, but it concerns real people, men, women, and children who are waiting. They are waiting for an organ; they are waiting for a yes.
Italian Version
