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The Servet and the Clinic have registered 18 donations from July 1 to August 28, when other years there were between 10 and 12.
The increase in mortality and, of course, the generosity of the Aragonese people, have translated into an increase in organ donations during the months of July and August. If normally in other years the Miguel Servet and Clínico de Zaragoza hospitals registered a dozen donations, this summer it reached 18, nine in each health center.
These altruistic gestures have made it possible to carry out three heart transplants, 15 kidney transplants, five liver transplants and refer organs to other hospital centers in the country. To these donations we must add the extractions of corneas and bones that are also done in the Community.
The increase in activity has reduced the waiting list significantly. Currently there are only two patients waiting for a heart and five for a liver. "Three years ago, there were more than 20 patients waiting for a liver. Now, the normal number is 8 or 10, but after this summer it has been reduced to two," highlights the transplant coordinator at the Miguel Servet hospital, Agustín Nebra.
The donations have in turn implied an enormous effort by the professionals of the health centers of the Aragonese Community. It must be taken into account that this level of activity has been concentrated in a period in which the workforce is "depleted by the summer holidays." However, as the transplant coordinators have stressed, the staff at Miguel Servet and the Clinic have responded in an exemplary manner to the effort that this extra work has meant for everyone. For example, the three heart transplants recorded this summer were concentrated in the month of August. Meanwhile, from August 14 to 18, in the middle of the bridge, there were three donations.
The transplant coordinators of the hospitals, who work to guarantee activity and that nothing fails in the process, have recalled that this summer record has been possible thanks to the generosity that the Aragonese have shown in "hard vital and emotional circumstances" in the face of The death of a loved one. A generosity that they have been expressing for years. In 2018, 94% of Aragonese families who were asked to donate organs gave their consent, a percentage higher than the national average, which is 85%.
If donations continue at this rate until the end of the year, the 2018 figures could be exceeded. Last year, 99 transplants were performed in the Aragonese Community thanks to the donation of 48 people, according to data provided by Health at the beginning of the year. In addition, 46 organs were transferred to other hospitals in Spain.
