From now on, patients in cardiac arrest will also be able to donate organs. At present, only living donors among family or acquaintances, or brain-dead donors whose brains have stopped functioning but whose hearts are beating, can donate organs. If organ donation by patients in cardiac arrest becomes possible, it is expected to help resolve the chronic shortage of transplantable organs.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 16th announced the first comprehensive plan for organ and other donation and transplantation for 2026–2030, which introduces organ donation from patients after circulatory arrest. For patients with circulatory arrest who have given prior consent, cardiopulmonary resuscitation will not be performed; after waiting five minutes, if blood circulation has ceased, organs will be retrieved for donation.
With an aging population, the number of people waiting for organ transplants increases every year, but organ donations are severely lacking. Last year, there were 397 brain-dead donors, but 54,789 people were on the transplant waiting list. An average of 8.5 people die each day while waiting. The average waiting period for all organ transplants is four years, and for kidney transplants it reaches seven years and nine months.
Overseas, organ donation after cardiac arrest is actively carried out. Half of all organ donations are after circulatory arrest. The ministry plans to allow people who wish to donate and who die of cardiac death after withdrawing life-sustaining treatment to donate their organs. A ministry official said, "Revisions to the Organ Transplantation Act and the Life-Sustaining Treatment Act are necessary," adding, "We will also establish a surgical system for immediately after the end of life."
For human tissue donation, the supply-demand imbalance is more serious than for organs. Human tissue is essential for treating burn and explosion patients, cancer treatment, and reconstructing tissue, but donations are insufficient. Among the deceased and brain-dead, the number of human tissue donors is around 150 per year.
More than 80% of human tissue is imported from overseas donors. A ministry official said, "Major hospital human tissue banks are closing due to operational difficulties, and we understand that domestic human tissue supply is decreasing," adding, "We plan to overhaul the support system for hospital human tissue banks."
The ministry also plans to increase the number of organ donation registration agencies from the current 462 to 904 by 2030. These agencies register a person's intention, while alive, to donate organs after death. To raise social awareness of organ donation, the ministry will also install "walls of remembrance" plaques for donors in the lobbies of organ transplant medical institutions and local governments.