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The elderly association ANBO showed that now 6 out of 10 elderly people have recorded their wish in the Donor Register. The elderly are in the lead in this, because in the average population this is 4 in 10. How is that with you?
The new Donor Act will come into effect from 1 July 2020. This means that you are automatically a donor after death, unless you have indicated that you do not want that. This is only possible in the government’s Donor Register. You can also indicate that a loved one decides whether or not to become a donor. Have you recorded your choice in the Donor Register?
Yes: then my choice is clear
When most people die, it is not clear what they would have wanted – to be a donor or not. The new law puts pressure on the kettle: record it, otherwise you will automatically have no objection to donation. When the new law comes into effect, reminders will follow.
It Central Bureau of Statistics calculated last year that only 42% of people have recorded their choice. As a result, suitable donors may be lost, with all the suffering that entails for people on the waiting list for a new kidney or a new cornea.
In the Netherlands, we live to be 80 to 83 years old on average, so the new Donor Act is especially relevant for the elderly. ANBO showed that 60% of the elderly have recorded their choice in the Donor Register, which is more than the average population.
Can you still be a donor at a later age? Yes, it is not just about young people who die from a traffic accident or a brain haemorrhage. More than half of organ donors in 2018 were over 56 years old, although there are age limits for donation of some organs such as the heart or pancreas.
No: I don’t need that
If you want to be a donor, then you’re in the right place with the new law. Anyone who does not register has no objection.
If you do not want to be a donor, the chance that your organs will be removed after death is small. In 2018, 273 people were organ donors out of 150,000 deaths. Tissue donation is more common, according to figures from the Dutch Transplantation Foundation. There were 2,398 in 2018. This usually concerns eye tissue, for example for a cornea transplant.
There is much more to report about the new Donor Act. Can you also record this at the notary? And what if you are no longer mentally competent? Read it here.
Have you recorded your choice in the Donor Register? Respond to our statement:
My choice about organ donation is in the Donor Register
- read more about My choice about organ donation is in the Donor Register