Sharp increase in organ, tissue donations last year

The number of organ donations and tissue donations increased significantly last year, the Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS) reported. The NTS attributed the increase to the amended Donor Act and innovations.

Last year, 360 people donated one or more organs after death, 68 more than the year before. On average, each donor gave three organs and there were 1,066 transplants with organs from deceased donors. And 2,775 people donated one or more tissues, such as eye tissue, heart valve, skin, and bone tissues, an increase of 232 donors compared to 2023.

The amendment to the Donor Act switched the Netherlands to active donor registration, which means that people have to indicate that they don’t want to donate their organs instead of the other way around. This has led to more people registering their choice, including more people indicating that they want to donate their organs.

Medical innovations have also helped. “Perfusion in particular plays a major role in this: flushing organs with an (oxygen-rich) fluid. This method allows organs to be examined and approved for transplantation better than before,” NTS director Naomi Nathan said. This led to the number of heart transplants doubling, from approximately 40 a year between 2016 and 2021 to 79 last year. “And because the quality of an organ is more visible, the criteria for who can be a donor could be expanded.”

Heart valve transplants happened 155 times in 2024, and cornea transplants 2,039 times. There were also “frequent” bone and tissue transplants. With these, one donor can help multiple patients.

“More people want to and are able to donate. Thanks to active donor registration, more people are clear about what they want after death, which is important. And thanks to medical innovations, more and more deceased people can donate,” Nathan said. “The gift of an organ or tissue donation can be used better. This way, donations can save more and more people and enrich lives.”

Despite this increase, there are still far more people who need transplants than organs available from donors, the NTS said. On the last day of 2024, there were 1,415 patients on the waiting list for an organ from a deceased patient. Most, 1,067 people, were waiting for a kidney transplant