For those who'd like to carry a Swiss Organ Donor Card, here's the link:

http://www.swisstransplant.org/eng/

There appears to be no donor register in CH.


~Nanda

Excellent topic to bring up. There was a story at Swissinfo a few days ago on this topic. Link is here [swissinfo.ch].

Some of you may have come from countries where the default choice for your driver's license was to donate all organs unless you opt-out (e.g. NSW, Australia). No such facility is linked to the driver's license here.

That means that unless you carry a donor card, you won't be considered as a donor in the event that you die suddenly at a road accident, etc.

On a similar theme, can a British person give blood here?

When we moved here I was on the Antony Nolan Bone Marrow register and I was advised by them to let the Swiss equivalent know that I was here in CH.
I duly did so and was told that because I was British, they did not want my marrow at all due to CJDetc.....
Nothing wrong with me guv...

I was then told by a colleague that that was also the case for my blood. (I didn't bother to check this out with the authorities - I'd taken my bat home by then!!).
Does anyone know?

Hello Heidi,

I haven't checked this lately, however for many years now, no other country will accept British blood.

Even New York City didn't want any on 14/9/1.

=DM=

I know for sure that Australia wouldn't accept blood from anyone who had been resident in the UK for the last ten years - I have a vauge recollection that it was the same situation in Switzerland. But if Diem says it's all countries then it must be the case here too!

No, Switzerland does not accept blood from people who have lived in UK in some time period.

I've always donated in the UK, so I investigated it when the "blood bus" turned up at my work. It seems we're all regarded as some kind of mad-cow-disease plague carrier.

How it translates to organs, I don't know.

The figures for "principle" and "reality" don't surprise me.
I read recently it's the same in the UK as well - the nearest and dearest don't like the idea of robbing the corpse for bits and bobs to re-use... despite the recently deceased having a donor card.

Anyway, the idea of a Swiss national having a foreigner organ transplanted conjures up images of "Heart Condition" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099750/plotsummary [IMDB]

I have just been reading on the BBC about proposals to change the way organ donation is done. People will be presumed to have consented unless they register not to, which is very sensible IMO. I went to the swiss transplant site and saw that if an organ is not suitable for a Swiss person, it would be offered to someone else in Europe - again very sensible. I am puzzled though, if an organ is harvested in the UK and is not suitable for a Brit resident and it is offered Europe wide, would the Swiss team take it, given that they won't have our blood? I imagine the only organ acceptable would be corneas and I didn't see any mention of those on the Swiss site.

I found out only last week that although I have been living in Switzerland since 1991 and have donated blood here before (last time in 2001!) I am no longer allowed to do so.
I also carry a donor card and asked the doctor if that wasn't allowed either. He said that the rules weren't as complicated for organ donation and that I shouldn't throw away my donor card just because I grew up in England! Unfortunately you can't test for nCJD so it doesn't look likely that we will be able to spend blood here in the future.

I'm Canadian, but lived in England for about a year when I was two years old (1982), but because of the crazy cows, my own country doesn't even want my blood, so I guess no one else probably does either.

Does anyone know if it follows that no one would want my organs either?

Sounds like they might be less fussy for organs, i guess they could always fly them back to the uk?

The PDF thats generated with the card you can make online says:

Sadly the Swiss' willingness to donate organs is rather low with the laudable exception of I think Ticino. If medical risk assessment turns out in favour of a transplantation there is in my opinion no reason to not honor the donor's wish even if he had some little or not relevant health issue himself...

Edit: A new campaign has begun to raise awareness of the issue, it is named "I know what I want". It got a mixed feedback but I think it is good!

Gah - trying to print out my donor card and my printer is being incredibly frustrating! I wish you could send off for one, but I can't find it on their website. Still, a new student reminded me of this today and I thought I should remind everyone else. I am an organ donor in the UK and for some absurd reason naturally assumed I would be here too. It never really occured to me that I would have to do something here to become an organ donor, too. I urge everyone who is an organ donor in their country of origin to follow the link in the OP!

You can get one at any chemist's/pharmacie.
It's also very important to talk to your OH/partner/family. Mine all know that in the case of my demise by accident, THEY have to volunteer my organs. Doctors often find it almost impossible to ask grieving relatives. Also relatives are less likely to object if asked, if they know it was YOUR wish to donate.

I didn't know you could get one at the pharmacy (and I have one in my building... still, I 've got the blimmin' printer working now!). My partner/friends/family all know what I want. I want absolutely every single usable part of me to be used and the rest to be burnt. Then I want a ceremony where everyone cries their eyes out because they're so sad I've gone, then I want them to have a big party afterwards to remember how I lived

But yes... huh hum... organ donation is something that many of us forget about, even if we feel strongly that we should be donors! Just reminding other fools like me who had forgotten about it. Thanks for the info, Odile.

I knew several people in the UK who didn't want to carry a card because they thought it would be bad luck to - even though they were in favour of donation. I really think an opt-out system is so much better. Whatever one thinks about today's vote in Wales - it is interesting that their first planned change of Law is to change to such a system. People who opt out should be opting out of receiving too.

Yes, we all want to be donors. But the problem is, when exactly one is death? Who decides that? Death is not necessarily dead - in medical terms I mean. And with a donor card and so many people in line for your organs, one might take a rather too quick decision.

Someone in my family was medically death and doctors gave him up, luckily they were reluctant to stop the life supporting machines, because after a long time he is still with us now. What if doctors had said at that time: ok we need the organs, he will not recover. I would have felt like a murderer.

Just a thought.

This is also the reason, why donor cards are not so popular in Switzerland. I'm not saying this because of my personal case, but a friend working for BAG shares this opinion.

I realise this is a very difficult question : would you therefore refuse donation for yourself and your family, based on the same concerns?

It's sort of difficult to answer. I do see the point that organs should be transplanted. I have no hesitations towards this. If I'm no more, hopefully my organs can be used in one or another way. The thing is that there are in between cases in medicine and I do not really want to be declared death in a rush just because someone is waiting for my organs.

But officially when I'm death, yes, my organs should definitely be used.

Thanks - it is indeed a very tough question - but you have not answered it at all.

I can't find it now, but I read on their website earlier that their absolute priority is to save lives! If your life can be saved (I presume this means even if you are brain dead - which should I be in that situation, I would want my family to pull the plug anyway - your life would still be given priority over someone who needs a transplant), it will be.

Somebody the other day told me he wasn't sure about donating his organs. I appreciate that people have their reasons, and I can "understand" views that don't matc up with mine on a lot of topics, but organ donation? Anyway... I have my card in my wallet and I'm happy.