The number of people who want to donate their organs after death has reached a new record high, but so has the number of people who refuse to do so.
The number of Belgians indicating their willingness to donate their organs after death is at a record high. Some 468,649 Belgians have registered to donate their kidney, heart, liver or other organ after death.
This marks an increase of almost 30% over five years, De Zondag (The Sunday) reported on the basis of figures from the National Organ Donation Register.
However, the number of people who are deliberately not open to donation is also at its highest level ever: 216,577 Belgians have explicitly indicated that they do not want to donate their organs.
De facto, every Belgian is a potential organ donor, but people can explicitly state during their lifetime that they do not wish to donate their organs. If this has been indicated in an official manner, their vital organs will not be taken out after death.
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It is sometimes also the case that the next of kin of the person who has deceased refuses donation. According to Luc Colenbie, an expert on transplants at the FPS Public Health, around 15% of the children or spouses of a person who has died do so.
This is why he calls on people to register as organ donors as much as possible. "That way, the family does not have to decide about your organs at a very emotional time." Each organ donor can save up to eight lives and improve the quality of life of 50 people.
