New donation rules increase organ supply

New regulations allowing organ transplants after cardiac death have resulted in 16 more organ donation processes, benefitting a total of 34 recipients from January to July 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Health. Previously, organs were only harvested from brain-dead individuals on ventilators, but advancements in medicine now make it possible to extend the donor pool, saving more critically ill patients waiting for life-saving transplants. In 2023, 430 transplants were performed, including a few after cardiac death. The new rules were enacted at the end of 2023 and fully implemented by the beginning of 2024. A national action plan, adopted in June 2024, will assess if more hospitals should perform organ donation after cardiac death. Denmark has facilitated organ donation since 1964.