The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has counted a total of 56 organ donors in the first five months of 2024: 52 deceased and four alive. According to data provided by the Ministry of Health, these figures for donor persons represent an increase of 19.15% compared to those first five months of last year.
Of these, 79 are kidney transplants, of which 30 were performed at the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular Materno-Infantil and 49 were carried out at the Hospital Universitario de Canarias (HUC), where two pancreatic transplants were also performed. The Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria has performed eight liver transplants in this period of time, and the Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín carried out ten heart transplants and seven lung transplants.
In this sense, the Ministry of Health recalls that "the more donors there are, the greater the number of lives that can be saved." Thus, and thanks to these 56 donors, the public hospitals of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) have performed 106 transplants in the first five months of this year, which represents an increase in activity of 29% compared to the same period of 2023.
Acknowledgement
The Ministry of Health recalls the importance of organ and tissue donation, which is essential to adequately treat diseases whose only therapeutic option is transplantation. In this sense, it reiterates the call for donation to all citizens of the Canary Islands, since without donors there are no transplants.
For all these reasons, the Ministry and its transplant coordination teams thank the population of the archipelago for their involvement in this process and recall that without this generosity they could not carry out their work to save lives or improve the quality of patients who benefit from this type of procedure.
How to become a donor
The donor card expresses the will to donate but has no legal value. Therefore, in addition to requesting the card, it is very important that the person who wants to be a donor communicates their wish to the family so that it is respected. This means that, at the time of death, if they could be an organ donor, the family will have to sign the consent to proceed with the extraction. The card can be obtained through the National Transplant Organization (ONT) and patient associations.
Currently, to facilitate organ donation, the person who wishes to be a donor can make an Advance Declaration of Will (MAV), a document that contains the instructions and options that the health personnel attending the grantor must respect regarding the care and treatment of their health; the provisions regarding the destination of their body and the donation of organs and tissues; as well as the indications of an ethical, moral or religious nature that express their vital objectives and personal values, and that contemplates the designation of one or more representatives who will act as interlocutors of the instructions and values expressed before the doctor or the health team.
The MAVs can be made before the officials of the Ministry of Health or before any notary belonging to the Notarial Association of the Canary Islands, once the pertinent authorization is obtained, as stated in the agreement established between the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Notarial Association of the Canary Islands. For more information about the MAVs, you can consult the Government of the Canary Islands website.
There is the possibility of donating in life if the conditions and requirements established by law are met. The donor must be of legal age and enjoy good physical and mental health.
The organs that can be donated are the kidneys, liver, heart, pancreas, lungs and intestine. In addition, tissues (also very necessary) can also be donated, both from living and deceased donors. In this way, we can obtain bone marrow, bones, tendons, corneas, amniotic membrane and heart valves.