PUBLIC HEALTH : NEW DIRECTIVE AIMS TO BOOST ORGAN DONATION.

A proposal for a directive aiming to improve the quality and safety measures for organ donation and the exchange of organs between the EU member states was launched by the European Commission, on 8 December. The document comes coupled with a ten-point action plan to strengthen the EU's organ donation and transplantation systems through exchange of best practices. With the latter, the Commission expects to increase the rate of organ donation in the EU, which varies considerably between the member states.

The exchange of organs is a common practice between member states, but for now there is no legislation in the Union regulating the quality and safety aspects of these exchanges. The proposed directive seeks to provide a legal framework for organ donation and transplantation in the...