Organ donations Four out of five donor hearts for children come from abroad

Four out of five donor hearts for children have recently been imported from abroad. Not least because of this, the mortality rate of children who are dependent on a donor heart has fallen to 15 percent, as Franz Immer, Director of Swisstransplant, said.

When Immer started at Swisstransplant around 16 years ago, the mortality rate for children who needed a donor heart was still 80 percent. The director of the national foundation for organ donation and transplantation said this in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Saturday.

Between 350 and 400 organs are listed on the European platform of the European allocation organization Foedus every year, Immer said. The most common organs are hearts, followed by lungs and livers. The organization was founded because it is often not possible to find a recipient, especially for children in their own country.

Transportation takes a maximum of four hours

Last year, Switzerland imported 45 organs and exported 26 organs, said Immer. The aim is to keep exports and imports in balance. Transporting an organ costs around CHF 20,000, depending on the distance. "It shouldn't take more than four hours to transport a heart," said Immer.

To put the figure into perspective: According to Immer, a heart transplant costs around 150,000 francs, while a kidney transplant costs a good 60,000 francs. Dialysis, on the other hand, costs 100,000 francs a year. "With 300 transplants, the potential savings amount to half a billion francs per year," Immer calculated.

All-time high for organ donations in Switzerland

Last year, more organs were donated in Switzerland than ever before. A total of 675 people on the waiting list received an urgently needed organ in 2023.

In 2022, the Swiss electorate approved the so-called extended opt-out solution. It is expected to come into force in 2026. This means that all people who have not refused to donate an organ during their lifetime will be considered organ donors. A person's relatives can still prevent the removal of organs.