The waiting list for a donor organ
An organ transplant can save lives. In the Netherlands, there are too few available donor organs to help everyone immediately. Therefore, there is a waiting list for people who need an organ.
On the waiting list
An organ transplant is a major surgery. Someone only receives a donor organ if it is the only option to stay alive. Therefore, strict rules apply to a transplant. A patient must meet these rules to get on the waiting list.
In the Netherlands, an average of more than 1,400 people are on the waiting list for a donor organ. There is a separate list for each organ, such as a heart, a kidney, or a liver. Some people need more than one organ. They are then on multiple lists. The list for a donor kidney is the longest.
Always in motion
The waiting list for a donor organ is always changing. Every year, more than 1,200 patients on the waiting list receive a transplant. They then leave the list. New very sick patients are also constantly being added. And unfortunately, patients still die on the waiting list.
In the video below, we explain how the waiting list works and why it is constantly changing:
Allocation of an organ
Many people think that the patient at the top of the waiting list is always helped first. That is not always true, because an organ must match the patient's body. Factors such as blood type, age, weight, and tissue type are important.
If a donor organ does not match well, the body can reject the organ. The body then thinks the organ is dangerous, just like a virus or bacterium. The immune system then attacks the transplanted organ. The organ then becomes damaged or does not function properly.
'In my family, kidney donation is not a problem'
Ambar is waiting. She lives in a no-man's-land, hoping for the solution: a new donor kidney.
Eurotransplant
Eurotransplantmanages the waiting lists for donor organs in the Netherlands. This organization operates in eight countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. Organs are sometimes exchanged between countries. For example, a donor organ from Nederland sometimes ends up with a patient in Belgium. This happens when a recipient there needs it urgently or it is a better match there. Another time, the Netherlands receives an organ from Belgium. This keeps it fair for all countries.
When an organ becomes available, a special computer system compares the donor's data with the patients' data. This creates a list of people for whom the organ is a good match. Not only medical data are important in this process. They also look at the waiting time and a fair distribution between the cooperating countries.
Frequently asked questions about the waiting list
Do some patients get priority?
Sometimes patients get a special status on the waiting list because they urgently need an organ. This happens when someone is very seriously ill and close to dying. A young child who needs a donor organ is also placed on the waiting list with this status. If a suitable donor organ becomes available, these patients get priority. How this works in detail varies by type of organ.
How long does someone have to wait on average for a donor organ?
How long a patient stays on the waiting list depends on various things. Each organ has its own waiting list. As a result, the waiting time for all organs is different. Also, some people are on the waiting list with more urgency, which means they get an organ sooner.
In addition, it is important that the organ is a good match for the patient on the waiting list. For example, age and blood type are considered, but other medical data are important too.