Spain reaches record in donations: 48 organs transplanted in 24 hours

Throughout 2023, 5,863 transplants were performed in Spanish hospitals, which keeps Spain at the world leader in donation for more than three decades

Marcos García Díaz Friday, April 19, 2024 / 19:24

Last Wednesday, April 17, 19 people gave 48 patients the opportunity to save or improve the quality of their lives thanks to the donation of as many organs in just 24 hours, thus reaching a new record of donations in Spain, according to this report. Friday the National Transplant Organization (ONT).

“The generosity of Spanish society has once again marked a new milestone in transplant activity in our country this week,” the ONT said in a statement. This activity was the result of teamwork and the efforts of hundreds of professionals and organizations “coordinated to the millimeter by the ONT so that the valuable gesture of donation becomes the reality of transplantation.”

29 hospitals from eleven autonomous communities participated in this historic day . Of the 48 transplants carried out, 25 were kidney, 11 liver, seven lung, three heart and two pancreas. One of the transplants was performed on a patient with zero urgency, that is, a patient whose situation is critical, with imminent risk of death if the transplant is not performed in time.

Among the people who received an organ were three children and a patient included in the National Transplant Access Plan for Hyperimmunized Patients (Pathi) of the National Transplant Organization (ONT), patients with enormous difficulties in receiving a transplant due to their immunological characteristics.

To transport organs and transplant equipment, it was necessary to mobilize six private planes and the collaboration of two commercial flights, from Iberia and Vueling.

This record of organ transplants last Wednesday surpasses the previous mark registered on November 29, 2019 , when 38 transplants were performed in 24 hours from 19 deceased donors, one of them from another country.

It should be noted that over the past year, 5,863 transplants were performed in Spanish hospitals, which keeps Spain at the world leader in donation for more than three decades, with a donation rate of 48.9 donors per million population.