People who have personal experience with organ donation will no longer stand alone in front of school classes to talk about it in the new school year. Their stories continue to be “an emphatic part of the lessons by guest teachers”, reports the Dutch Transplantation Foundation (NTS), which provides the lessons.
At the insistence of the ministry, the foundation has made adjustments. The stories of experts by experience will soon be more embedded in a factual lesson. “It is difficult to guarantee that young people experience the information provided by someone who has been given a new life thanks to donation,” the NTS acknowledges.
NRC was the first to write about the change. This is related to the Donor Act, which was amended in 2020. Since then, it has been arranged that everyone aged 18 or older is automatically a donor, except for people who indicate that they do not want this. If someone is on the Donor Register, his or her organs and tissues may be used to help another person after death. Incidentally, this is only possible if someone dies in the hospital in intensive care.
For the government, balanced information “is therefore now extra important, especially for young people who still have to make their choice”, explains the NTS.
“Experience stories have a major impact and therefore remain extremely valuable,” emphasizes the organization. Whether in schools, on social media, or as “part of a hospital story,” people who have received an organ or donated it to someone else continue to share their experiences.