Non-Donor Registry in Poland: Poltransplant Activity

Abstract

Background: Organ, tissue and cell procurement from deceased donors for transplantation requires consent and authorization, documented donor's positive acceptance, or lack of objection to donation expressed while alive. It also requires the fulfillment of other legal conditions required by the law, such as person's legal abilities to act in this field or to obtain approval for donation. Consent to and authorization of donation from deceased donors requires regulations on national level. Poland developed an opting-out policy since 1996, when The Central Register of Objections (CRO) was introduced. The purpose of this article is a formal analysis of all submitted objections and objection withdrawals managed by the CRO since the introduction of the registry until the end of 2020.

Methods: All data collected by the CRO during 25 years of service was subject of analysis. The objections and withdrawals of objections are summarized in the tables, along with the age, sex and place of residence of registered person.

Results: By December 2020, a total 37,728 records were registered, including 37,392 registered objections and 336 registered withdrawals of objections; this means that 0.09% of the country's population expressed objection to deceased donation.

Conclusions: The CRO is an indispensable option in a country with opt-out system as a part of deceased donation authorization protocol. Number of registered objections is extremely low, in practice, this leads to a situation where the will of the deceased most often is obtained from the family.