The Dutch Government is considering changing the system of organ donation to overcome the shortage of donors. To this end, a draft law is currently being examined to switch from express consent to presumed consent, i.e. “yes unless stipulated otherwise”.
At the same time, a campaign encouraging organ donation has been conducted in an attempt to register more donors. But, “the opposite result has surprisingly emerged”: 26,430 people (i.e. 83% of recently registered donors) have decided against organ donation versus 5,414 (17%) in favour. Furthermore, 11,025 people already registered have changed their mind to “no” versus 6,511 who stated “yes”.
Overall, the Dutch register has 6 million entries, 48% of whom are organ donors. 27% have expressed their refusal. The other entries concern limited authorisations or decisions taken by parents.
Institut Européen de Bioéthique (7/11/2016)