Venezuela enforces law on default organ donation

Venezuela's Law on Donation and Transplant of Organs, Tissues, and Cells entered in force on Monday providing for default donation unless otherwise stated, the coordinator of the Health Transplant Program adopted by the Health Ministry, Yazmín Pérez, said.

The law, enacted a year ago, had granted until Monday time to enforce the National System on Information about Donation and Transplant (Sinidot), which will allow Venezuelans to express their will about whether or not they want to donate their organs.

"From now on, we, Venezuelans, are all donators, unless stated otherwise as one lives," that is the difference with respect to the prior legislation, Pérez remarked on state-owned TV channel VTV.

The law also ends with the power of family members to resolve the donations of their deceased relatives and allows any Venezuelan adults to make said decision during their lifetime and according to their will.

Nearly 1,300 people await to be transplanted a kidney; another 1,500 seek corneas; over 345 are in need of bone marrow, and at least 20 look forward to receiving a liver transplant." Overall, nearly 3,000 people need an organ transplant.

Translated by Jhean Cabrera