There organ donation It is a process of extracting from a person, or a body, a functional organ for it to be given and transplanted to someone who needs it . THE donors It can be not only dead people since, on some occasions, this process can also be performed living subjects.

However, living people can only give up their organ or tissue, or part of it, if the process does not alter the vital functioning of their body. However, most donations take place when the person has died. In these cases, it is your relatives who are responsible for enforcing their wishes .

According to data provided by Manuel Gonzalez medical director of Bupa Renaca Clinic there the pandemic has caused a decline in transplants and organ donation, since in 2019 have been executed 533 surgeries transplants compared to 358 procedures which were made in 2020.

However, according to data from Ministry of Health (Minsal), in 2022, the rate of deceased donors per million inhabitants was 8.6, figure showing an increase from previous years 2021 (7.4) and 2020 (7.2).

He Public Health Institute (ISP) indicates that organ transplantation is a surgical procedure performed when people have irreversible organ failure it must therefore be removed and replaced with a healthy one from a donor.

In addition, the nurse and health innovation management coordinator at CollaborateMed , Maria Francisca Bustamante noted that the ISP “distinguishes patients solely by their clinical condition they have, no name”.

Everyone People over the age of 18 in Chile are organ donors by law. However, people should notify their next of kin of their will because, at the time of the person’s death, they will be the responsible for the execution of your wish .

However, the minsal specifies that they are only considered donors people who lose their lives brain death also called neurological criteria, a cause that represents the 2% of total death cases in the country .

Living persons who wish to be donors must be over 18 and they can donate their organ to a direct relative or a cohabiting partner, although they can also do this act anonymously. However, these are not the only ways to do so.

Indeed, the entity also specifies that, since 2017, a donor-recipient couple What are related, but not compatible, you can enter a national list in which a cross compatibility with another duo who is in the same situation.

In the event that a person dies and is part of the non-donor register procedure which is carried out before a notary, his will will be respected after his death. However, if the person has completed these documents, but wishes to change their mind, they must go to a registry office and explain your situation.

For these reasons, Bustamente, also with a master’s degree in public health, stressed the importance of talking with the families about the decision taken, since “it is important to promote awareness of save lives by donating . Generate the culture of giving and make it a habitual fact in everyone’s life”.

THE organs and tissues which can be transplanted from a donor who has suffered brain death, as indicated by the minsal they are:

• Heart.
• Lungs.
• Pancreas.
• Kidneys.
• Liver.
• Intestine.
• Bone.
• Fur.
• corneas.

In the event that the donor dies of a heart failure, only allowed to donate skin and corneas.

Also ISP indicates that living people can give their lung, kidney, liver, intestine and pancreas.

The entity in charge of waiting list management is the ISP place where prioritize patients for the allocation of organs and determines the compatibility between recipient and donor.

According to the medical director of Clínica Bupa Reñaca, the request “from the need a transplant is made by the led medical team by the attending physician. Then, the patient, already on the list, must wait for a compatible donor to be found.

Furthermore, according to the Health Innovation Management Coordinator at CollaboraMed, “the waiting list for each organ and tissue is unique, national and transversal to the public and private system. All people who need a transplant enter it, regardless of their socio-economic status ”.

The medical director, Manuel González, said that among the misconceptions what people have of this procedure is the fact of believing that any relative can decide whether the deceased will donate their organs.

However, the professional pointed out that this is not the case, since the the law establishes the following family order to make the decision on the possible donor:spouse, children over 18 legal representative or guardian, brother over 18, grandson over 18, grandparents and any blood relative up to and including the fourth degree ”.

Another myth that exists on these occasions according to González, is if the the recipient patient can contact the relatives of the donor make that It is not possible since the law decrees privacy on this information.

Finally, another situation that people may come to believe about this procedure is that the medical attitude will change upon knowing that the patient is a donor, which the medical director has indicated is completely wrong. Indeed, “the donation criteria are concrete and precise, one of the most relevant characteristics being the have exhausted all medical procedures until deciding that a patient is a donor ”.