About 30 Belarusians refuse to be organ donors after death
You can even refuse to be a donor by fax.
As Euroradio has found out, the draft “On organ and tissue transplantation” is being prepared in the country. Every Belarusian citizen can automatically become a donor now. You have to write an application to refuse. Euroradio has tried to refuse.
Doctors in polyclinics do not know how to do it now. According to the draft, it will be necessary to send an application there.
— Who can force you to donate if you do not want it? Is everyone obliged to do it?
— Well, it can happen if a person dies.
— Oh, you’d better not die.
The Centre of Organ and Tissue Transplantation explains that the draft has been adopted only in the first reading now. And you should send your refusal to the centre.
"Write a refusal and send it to City Clinic Hospital #9 by fax. You can send it by post, by fax or you can come to us. Then you will be crossed out of the list of potential donors”, – says Aleh Rumo, head of the centre.
We have phoned the receptionist of the hospital and found out that no applications have been sent there by fax yet. And “just a few people” have refused.
"The refusal will be sent to the coordination department and you will be added on the list. Only a few people have come with such applications so far”.
According to the preliminary information, there are about 30 people on the list of those who have refused to be donors.
According to the new draft, it will be possible to write such an application in policlinics.
"A Republican data base will be created, it will most likely be here but it has not been decided yet. Any person has the right to send such an application to any health centre, policlinic, hospital and even sanatorium. Every institution will be obliged to accept it and to deliver it to our centre within a day”.
You can do the same yourself now. You should write an application and indicate your passport information and address. The doctor says that this practice is used in Belgium, Sweden and many other states.
"All citizens are automatically added on the donor list. If you do not want to be there you should bother informing us about your desire”.
You can also refuse to be a donor in Poland and you will need two witnesses for it. However, relatives are usually asked for permission to donate organs anyway. Alzbeta Orzcyk, vice President of the foundation “Transplantation – gift of life” has informed about it:
"Relatives are asked about it more often because they can sue you in such cases. I would also be glad to be asked if I agree to donate my husband’s organs for transplantation or not. It is a rule here. You should better ask - there should be no compulsion”.
