Organ donor registers

Purpose of review Donor registers where individuals can register their consent or objection to post-mortem organ and tissue donation are becoming more numerous. There are donor as well as non-donor registers and a combination of the two. The purpose of this review is to give comprehensive, neutral and yet also critical information on donor registers. Recent findings The findings are based on published as well as unpublished sources. There are now 16 donor registers in Europe, 38 in the United States of America, three in Canada and a register also in Australia. As the population of most countries favors post-mortem organ donation it could be expected that few will register with non-donor registers and many with donor registers and combined registers. In spite of expensive promotion, however, few actually register. The impact of donor registers on donation rates is reportedly minimal. Summary Healthcare professionals need to know of any register in existence in their procurement region: those who register assume that the register will be consulted upon their death. Decision-makers should realize that donor registers are costly, that they do not increase organ donation and besides, they cannot be closed.