Are Greeks shy organ donors?
Few Greeks designate themselves as organ donors in case of death but they have a better track record as live donors, the European Commission revealed yesterday. Greeks are second-to-last in the European Union as organ donors after death while Cyprus tops the EU chart in kidney donations. There were only six dead donors per million people in Greece in 2004. That’s just above Luxembourg with 2 per million but significantly below Spain, which had 35 per million, according to the EC, which has launched a campaign to boost coordination between EU states in supplying organs and curbing organ trafficking. As for live donors, Greece fares better with 6.9 per million giving kidneys in 2004 as compared to 1.1 per million in Austria. But Cyprus tops this ranking with 41 donors per million. «Access to (organ transplants) and their quality varies depending on which member state you are in,» European Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said. Nearly 10 people die every day due to organ shortages, according to the EC.
