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A nun from Nantes, leaving for Toulouse to carry out examinations with a view to organ donation for her brother, was blocked by the taxi snail operation, in front of the city’s airport. Faced with this atypical situation, the strikers decided to offer him his taxi ride.
This is the great story of the day, reported by our colleagues from France Bleu. A nun was traveling between Nantes and Toulouse to do medical examinations with a view to donating her kidney to her sick brother.
She was slowed down in her journey by the strike of taxi drivers, who blocked the main access to Nantes airport. Touched by his story, one of them offered to take him to Toulouse free of charge, while his colleagues chipped in to pay for the fare, costing more than 1,600 euros.
A majority opinion in favor of organ donation
Organ donation can therefore be carried out between two living people, but in the majority, it is deceased donors who give them away. Clarifying your position on the subject, particularly to those close to you, is therefore important.
According to the latest barometer carried out by the Biomedicine Agency on this subject, less than one in two French people have already discussed it with their family while paradoxically, more than nine in ten respondents believe that it is important that their loved ones know their position on the issue.
A crucial lack of information on this subject
Generally speaking, organ donation therefore remains favorably perceived in public opinion, with eight out of ten French people “in favor of donating their organs after their death”. “Opinion remains overwhelmingly in favor of organ and tissue donation, with support not eroding, and figures stable from one year to the next. according to the public health agency.
On the other hand, a majority of respondents believe that they are not well informed on the subject, particularly on the question of consent. In France, the law requires everyone to be a presumed donor, unless refusal is explicitly reported in the national register of refusals. Before taking any samples, medical teams must also ask relatives if the deceased person did not express their refusal during their lifetime.
Opposition to donations on the rise in 2023
The Biomedicine Agency recalls the importance of giving one’s position during one’s lifetime, because in the absence of clear information, relatives prefer to oppose the donation, by default. The opposition rate is also increasing by 9.4% in 2023 compared to 2022, with 36% refusing donations.
The number of organ transplants was 5,634 in 2023, thanks to 1,791 deceased donors and 577 living kidney or liver donors. Figures which remain below those which could be recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic, deplores the Biomedicine Agency, which recalls that nearly 22,000 patients are waiting for a transplant at the start of 2024 .