Vote of May 15 – objection solution to increase organ donation quota – News

  • Those who do not want to donate organs after their death should explicitly state this in the future.
  • However, relatives should be able to refuse an organ donation.
  • The Federal Council and Parliament see the extended objection solution as an opportunity to increase the donation rate.

Health Minister Alain Berset opened the voting campaign on the bill, which will go to the polls on May 15. The change in the transplantation law is “not a revolution,” he told the media in Bern. However, the extended opt-out solution increases the chances for sick people of receiving a healthy organ.

Today, the donation rate in Switzerland is low. According to federal figures, around 450 people received organs last year. Three times as many people wait months to years for a transplant.

Relatives have the right to co-determination

The waiting list should be shorter in the future. That is why Parliament decided on a paradigm shift last autumn – away from the extended consent solution that applies today. This states that only deceased persons who have consented to a donation during their lifetime are eligible for organ removal. If there is no expression of will, the relatives must decide.

In the future, it should be assumed that the person consents to the removal of organs in the event of their death. If there is no documented will, the relatives are questioned as before. You could object to the removal of organs if this corresponds to the presumed wishes of the deceased. If there is neither an expressed wish nor relatives who can comment on this, the organs cannot be removed.

Organs can still only be donated by people who suffer brain death in hospital as a result of brain damage or cardiovascular arrest. If someone dies outside the hospital, organ donation is not possible.

Few critical voices in Parliament

The change from the consent to the objection solution is a European trend, said Berset. The change is a concrete answer to the lack of organs or to the fact that too few people commented on it during their lifetime. According to surveys, many people would be willing to donate an organ, but never express their will.

Register is rebuilt


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In order to record the will easily, securely and in compliance with data protection, the federal government will create a new register. Any person can register there if they refuse to donate their organs after their death. However, it is also possible to record the consent or to restrict the consent to certain organs. The entry can be changed at any time.

That Various health registers have caused displeasure in the recent past does not worry Berset. In none of the cases was the monitoring carried out by the federal government, and in none of the cases did the operators of the registers have to comply with the data protection principles of the federal government. “It will be different here.”

According to Anne Lévy, Director of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), if the voters vote in favor, the register managed by Swisstransplant will be relaunched – with a performance mandate from the federal government and monitoring by the BAG. In addition, a “major information campaign” is planned – so that everyone would know that a no to organ donation should be recorded in the future.

Critical voices about the paradigm shift could be heard in Parliament, but they were clearly in the minority. A non-partisan committee then held the referendum. Opponents argue that the change comes very close to an obligation to donate organs. It is an encroachment on the liberal values ​​of the state if the rights first have to be demanded. The pressure on the relatives is also massively increased.

The new procedure ensures that the relatives are involved and relieves them in a difficult situation, counters Berset. The extended objection solution leaves the freedom to make a conscious decision, but also not to have to deal with it. “No one may become an organ donor against their will.”

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