People who want to become ‘Good Samaritans’ and donate a kidney to a sick person will soon be able to do so. Spain’s National Transplant Organisation (ONT) announced recently that donors who want to give up a kidney would be able to put their names on a list under a new policy that will be adopted soon. The first such ‘Good Samaritan’ is a person from Andalusia who currently undergoing a physical to determine if he is a qualified donor and ensure he or she won’t have any psychological effects, said ONT president Rafael Matesanz.
The person who decides to donate a kidney won’t know the identity of the recipient, who will be the patient that needs it the most, Matesanz said.
Of the 22,000 people who are on the waiting list, about 4,200 are considered in critical condition and currently under dialysis.
The ONT president said that it wasn’t unusual for many people in Spain who approach the organisation to donate their organs while they are still alive. But doctors only opt for the kidney because an individual can survive with just one.