The project ¨Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries¨ (EUDONORGAN) has been launched

The main objective of the European project EUDONORGAN, acronym for ‘Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries’ is to provide training and increase social awareness in the EU and neighbouring countries with the ultimate aim to increase the number of donors. The project –led by the University of Barcelona - Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (UB-FBG) together with the DTI Foundation located at the Barcelona Science Park– is based on two (WPs), Social Awareness and Train the Trainers, the latter coordinated by DTI, which has trained over the last 25 years approximately 13,000 health professionals from more than 100 countries through its International Program TPM.

EUDONORGAN, acronym for ‘Training and social awareness for increasing organ donation in the European Union and neighbouring countries’ (SANTE/2015/D4/037), is a service contract awarded by the European Commission from the European Union budget, following the proposal made by the European Parliament.

The project is developed by an international consortium led by UB-FBG with the DTI Foundation (Spain). The consortium partners are: The Institute for Organ and Tissue Transplantation of the Republic of Slovenija, Slovenija-transplant; The Institute for Transplantation and Biomedicine - Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia; Italian National Transplant Centre - Italian National Institute of Health, Italy, and Dinamia (Spain), specialised in consultancy and evaluation of healthcare projects.

The project consists in two core WPs: Train the Trainers (W1) and Social Awareness (W2), and two horizontal WPs: Dissemination (WP3) and Evaluation (WP4).

EUDONORGAN will reach approximately 350 to 400 participants from the EU and neighbouring countries, including healthcare professionals and other relevant players such as: patients and patient support groups; representatives of public and governmental agencies, representatives of health institutions, opinion leaders and the media.

Train the trainers

Currently, only 10% of the world population has an access to transplantation. In 2015 in the EU, a total of 10,495 individuals donated their organs after their death (with a population of 504.7 million) which represents approximately 20.8 donors per million inhabitants (pmp). Living donors reinforced the numbers with the highest rate in Netherlands: 516 kidney living donors (30,4 pmp).

However, the numbers of people who donate after death in the EU varies widely, from 40.2 pmp donors in Spain and 3.5 pmp donors in Greece (Source: Newsletter Transplant -International figures on donation and transplantation 2015).

The current training program is addressed to healthcare professionals active in the field of organ, tissue and cell donation, and other relevant professionals such as managers of healthcare establishments, communication officers, responsible of transplant programs, etc. The training methodology is blended (online and face-to-face) and it includes experts from all over Europe.

DTI Foundation

DTI Foundation, base at the Barcelona Science Park, is a non-profit organization founded in Barcelona in 2008 with the mission of promoting the process of organ, tissue and cell donation in order to meet the transplant needs in all regions and countries around the world.

Its main objective is to provide tailored consulting services and specialized training in the field to countries and regions which request support to improve their activity.

TPM, the international program that merged with DTI in 2088, has 25 years of experience and has trained nearly 13,000 professionals from 100 countries around the world since its creation in 1991 (with the support of the University Of Barcelona and the National Transplant Organization (ONT)).

Moreover, TPM is a key reference for the development of the Spanish model of organ donation for transplantation, and it is the official transplant coordination training program in Italy (Centro Nazionale Trapianti), France (Biomedicine Agency) and Portugal (Instituto Portugês don Sangue @ e da Transplantaçao).