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Foundation: Organ donations remain at a low level

The decision to donate an organ can also be made online. (Archive image) / Photo: Anna Ross/dpa
The decision to donate an organ can also be made online. (Archive image) / Photo: Anna Ross/dpa

The hoped-for boost in organ donations failed to materialize in 2024. This is also a problem in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, as new figures show.

The number of organ donations in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia fell slightly last year. A total of 343 organs were donated - slightly fewer than in the previous year with 351 organs, according to the German Organ Transplantation Foundation (DSO). The figures are also stagnating nationwide: 2,854 organs were donated in 2024, three fewer than in 2023.

About 130 people donated organs in the three federal states after their death - four more than in the previous year. Saxony led the way with 72 donors, followed by Thuringia with 36. 22 people donated organs post-mortem in Saxony-Anhalt. At the same time, the number of transplants in the region rose by 17 to 306 compared to 2023, putting the eastern region in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of Germany.

Thousands more waiting

8,260 people are on the waiting list for a life-saving organ nationwide, 281 of them in Saxony, 266 in Saxony-Anhalt and 277 in Thuringia. More than 960 organs are needed in the region alone - kidneys and livers are particularly in demand.

With 11.4 donors per million inhabitants, Germany lags behind in an international comparison. With 15.6 donors, the Eastern region is slightly above the national average. The DSO emphasized that the number of donations remains at a low level. Further efforts to increase them are essential, as the situation for patients is dramatic, said the foundation's medical director, Axel Rahmel.

Rahmel appealed to the public to record their decision to donate organs in writing - for example in an organ donor card, a living will or digitally. According to the DSO, only 15.3 percent of potential donors had a documented will in 2024.

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