Small growth in the number of donor refusers: around 30,000 people do not give consent | Domestic

Striking: of the 30,000 ‘new’ donor refusers, 10,000 had explicitly agreed to organ donation a year earlier. The rest had not previously made a choice and were listed in the Donor Register with ‘no objection’. This means that after their death, a doctor determines what happens in consultation with the surviving relatives.

Until 2020, an explicit choice had to be made about the donation of organs and tissues after death. The people who did not make a choice were also not in the register. The introduction of the Donor Act stipulates that all adult residents of the Netherlands are included in the Donor Register, unless they indicate ‘objection to organ donation’ in their registration. “Since that law, there has been a significant increase in the number of people making a choice,” says Luuk Hovius of CBS. A total of 10.7 million Dutch people have now entered their choice in the register.

Young people in particular have not yet made a choice, says Hovius. They therefore automatically have no objection to organ donation. This concerns 38 percent of 18 to 25 year olds. “When they get older they might think about it again.”

Of the adult group, 31 percent are registered with ‘no objection’; for the elderly this share was 15 percent. Adults most often give explicit consent for organ donation. People over 75 refuse most. Hovius: “Religious beliefs can play a role in this.”

In the municipalities of Goirle, Voerendaal and Stein, the majority of residents made a choice, namely 81 percent. Diemen and Amsterdam have the fewest registrations in percentage terms (62 percent). Most people who do not consent to organ donations live in Urk and Neder-Betuwe. Hovius: “These are strictly religious communities. There is a good chance that, just like the elderly group, they do this out of religious conviction. Most people who give explicit permission live in Oost Gelre and Rozendaal.