Organ donation during Coronavirus Pandemic
In Germany, the organ donation rate in 2020 was similar to that in 2019. In contrast, other European countries saw organ donation rates fall sharply.
06/03/2021 · Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Raumwissenschaften · ifo Institut Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München e. V. · News · Forschungsergebnis
The organ donation rate in Germany fell only slightly in 2020, the year of the coronavirus. In many other European countries, however, it plummeted. This is the finding of a report published by the ifo Institute’s Dresden Branch to mark Germany’s Organ Donation Day. “Despite the extraordinary strain on hospitals, and especially on intensive care units, the number of organ donors remained relatively constant during the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, albeit at a comparatively low level,” says Selina Schulze Spüntrup, a researcher at the ifo Institute’s Dresden Branch.
In Germany, the organ donation rate in 2020 was similar to that in 2019, at around 11 organ donors per million inhabitants. The number of organ donors moved quite independently of the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care. In contrast, other European countries saw organ donation rates fall sharply while the burden on their health care systems was high, with declines mostly in the double-digit range.
Original publication
Schulze Spüntrup, Selina (2021): Die Corona-Pandemie hat kaum negative Auswirkungen auf die Organspenderzahlen in Deutschland, in: ifo Dresden berichtet, 2021, 28, Nr. 3 Vorabversion.