Organs

Coordination Office of Transplantation Affairs,
GÖG/ÖBIG Transplant

The Coordination Office documents transplantation activities in Austria with regard to solid organs (e.g., kidneys, livers, hearts); it is in charge of public relations work, organises communication courses concerning approaches to relatives in the process of organ donation, manages the Christine Vranitzky Foundation for the Promotion  of Organ Transplantation and administers the funds for the promotion of transplantation.

Its work programme is coordinated with the Transplantation Advisory Council at GÖG/ÖBIG, staffed with experts and representatives of special interest groups. This body also approves the publication of the annual report on transplantation.

Austria pursues a presumed-consent policy (opt-out system): under the legislation in force, it is permitted to remove organs of a potential donor unless the person in question, before their death, explicitly objected to donation. All hospitals, before removing organs or parts of organs (including tissue), are obliged to verify whether such an objection has been filed. In order to document these refusals, since 1995 the Coordination Office has kept the Opting-out Registry of persons refusing organ donation.

For recent developments and data on organ, tissue and stem cell donation and transplantation please consult the latest annual report (Transplant-Jahresbericht 2011).

Contact: Birgit Priebe