From November 14th, all those who want to get their driver’s license for the first time, and those who want to renew the document, must indicate whether or not they’ll donate organs in case of death.
The doctors who carry out the medical reports are the ones in charge of asking if they voluntarily wish to become a donor upon dying. Since this Wednesday the doctors have a new online form that requires them to fill in the box when the assessment is made.
Once the user expresses their will, the information is sent to the National System of Organ Donation of Costa Rica (SINADOC).
If a patient has an accident and is declared brain dead, the hospital coordinators are the only ones who have access to the information of the system and thereby corroborate whether the person expressed their will to become a donor or not,”
said the College of Physicians and Surgeons through a press release.
With this obligation, the authorities seek to increase the list of organ and tissue donors that can save the lives of other people. Currently, the figures are very low: in nine years, about 209 deceased donors have been listed, when the national list of organ recipients exceeds one thousand.
A person who donates their organs will be saving the lives of eight people on average. We launch this project hoping many people accept being a donor, so that we can cover the shortage of organs and tissues for people waiting for a transplant,”
said Giselle Amador, Minister of Health.
If you are not a driver, but still want to express your willingness to become a donor, you can go to the Health Rector Areas of the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). Soon you will also be able to express it through the renewal of the identity card.
The donation of organs and tissues is made when the medical team has exhausted all the ways to save people’s lives and when a series of clinical tests confirm that a brain death occurred.
Thanks to these donations, only last year there were 40 kidney transplants, 10 liver transplants and four heart transplants. Also 32 of skeletal muscle, 11 of amniotic membrane, 10 heart valves, 10 blood vessels and two skin donations were performed.