Survey finds most Swiss willing to donate organs

What should happen to your organs after you die? Keystone

It seems most members of the Swiss population would serve as organ donors, yet only half of them have actually expressed their wish to do so.

A representative telephone survey of 1,000 people has found that, in general, 81% are willing to donate their organs after death, the foundation SwisstransplantExternal link announced on Monday. Yet just over half of them have actually communicated that willingness.

Asked why they hadn’t done so, respondents said they either hadn’t found the time, or that they hadn’t considered it in detail. This poses a serious hurdle for transplants, notes Swisstransplant, pointing out that unclear wishes put surviving relatives and hospital staff in a difficult situation.

Swisstransplant thus encourages organ donors to carry a donation card and to inform relatives. It is also possible to display a digital donor card on a smartphone.

Some 91% of survey respondents had a positive attitude about organ donation; 55% associated the concept with terms like “save lives”, a “good thing” and “helping”. Just 2% said they were against organ donation, or said that it made them think of “organ trafficking”.