The problem

Success rates for organ transplants have improved over recent years, which has led to an increased demand for such operations. However, organ donor rates have not kept pace with this growth in interest, so people’s chances of undergoing a transplant have remained unchanged. This situation means that patients are missing out on surgery which could save or transform their lives. The challenge is to increase the availability of organs for transplant – only then will waiting lists and waiting times come down.

Overview:

The DOPKI project – Improving the Knowledge and Practice of Organ Donation – seeks to improve organ donation rates. Researchers aim to develop a methodology that can determine the potential for donation and its likely outcome.

Specifically the project will:

• Produce indexes that can be used to benchmark organ donation potential
• Define risk levels in the donor evaluation process
• Produce actions that can improve organ donation rates, and thus increase organ transplant activity
• Develop recommendations about organ donation that can be used by European health care policy-makers

Contribution to policy development:

• The project results will feed into health policy-makers’ strategies to cut waiting times for organ
  transplant surgery.
• Results will be disseminated to all World Health Organisation (WHO) regions, allowing health policy-makers across the globe to make use of the project.

Project deliverables

• Report on situation relating to organ donation in Europe, covering technical, legal and socio-sanitary issues – month 6
• Develop protocols for study design and collection of data – month 9
• Descriptive report of data – month 30
• Produce set of recommendations for future actions to improve organ donor rates in Europe – month 36

Dissemination

• Project website – ongoing
• Publish project brochures – ongoing
• Presentation of project at relevant conferences, meetings – as required
• Publishing and distribution of report on project achievements – as required

Technical information

Project acronym: DOPKI
Project’s official full title: Improving the Knowledge and Practice of Organ Donation
Research priority: 2.2. Public health issues, including epidemiology contributing to disease prevention and responses to emerging rare and communicable diseases, allergies, procedures for secure blood and organ donations, non-animal test methods
Start date: Not available
Kick off meeting: Not available
Completion date : Not available
Specific webpage: Not yet available
Proposal/contract no: Not available
European Commission scientific officer: Jan Paehler (jan.paehler@@ec.europa.eu)

Coordinator:
Name: Organización Nacional de Trasplantes
Abbreviated name: ONT
Address: c/o Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo
Country: Spain
Tel: +34 91 314 29 69
Website: www.ont.msc.es

Partners

Name: Agence de la Biomédicine
Abbreviated name:
Country: France 

Name: Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation
Abbreviated name: DSO
Country: Germany

Name: Hungarotransplant Public Service Cooperation
Abbreviated name: HUNGAROTRANSPLANT PSC
Country: Hungary

Name: Centro Nazionale Trapianti
Abbreviated name: CNT
Country: Italy

Name: Organizacão Portuguesa de Transplantação
Abbreviated name: OPT
Country: Portugal

Name: UK Transplant
Abbreviated name: UKT
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Eurotranplant International Foundation
Abbreviated name:
Country: The Netherlands

Name: Swisstransplant
Abbreviated name:
Country: Switzerland

Name: Transplant Coordinating Centre of the Czech Republic
Abbreviated name:
Country: Czech Republic

Name: Slovenija Transplant
Abbreviated name:
Country: Slovenia

Name: Ministry of Health And Social Welfare
Abbreviated name:
Country: Croatia