Excellent transplantation medicine in Basel but too few organs - can the numbers be boosted by those who chose assisted suicide?
Hospitals are in desperate need of donated organs. The demand is rising while the donations remain at a low level. New pathways to boost the number of available organs are being researched including following an assisted suicide at clinics in Switzerland.
Those who chose to end their lives because of terminal illness could save the lives of very ill patients who can live for many more years if they are given an organ donation. It is a big challenge both in terms of ethics and medicine but it is time to face this dilemma.
The idea to connect the two is close at hand, since both a potential and a legal basis are available. However, this is still a taboo today. This must change.
Clear message by the numbers
The numbers give a clear message, Franziska Beyeler, head of national transplant coordination of Swisstransplant, told barfi.ch. “A total of 82 patients in Baselland and Basel-Stadt are currently waiting for an organ, with 67 alone waiting for a kidney.”
According to Muriel Düby from the communication department of the self-help organisation EXIT, 54 people in both Basel cantons committed assisted suicide last year.
Alarming: The number of organ donations shrunk by nearly a quarter last year - with the exception of liver transplants. A receiver must wait an average of almost three years for a kidney - this is the longest queue by far. However, regarding kidney transplants especially, the University Hospital of Basel and its clinic for nephrology and transplant immunology is pioneering both nationally and internationally. At the same time, there is a constant increase in suicides, according to Swiss statistics. The number increased in 2014 by a staggering 26 per cent nationwide.
Pathology unit at University Hospital to become competence centre for molecular cancer diagnosis
The pathology unit at the university hospital Basel (USB) is a new partner of the US technological company Thermo Fisher Scientific. New results from research and development should be quickly adapted by cancer diagnostics.
The tumour centre at the USB will be significantly strengthened on the field of cancer therapy through the partnership between the US lab equipment company and the university hospital, a spokesperson for USB said in a press release on Wednesday. Newest developments in molecular companion diagnostics would directly be adapted in cancer therapy, meaning patients should also benefit.
According to the release, 35,000 people get cancer every year in Switzerland. In the context of personalised and targeted cancer treatment, fast and precise diagnostics would be of great significance.
Through the three-year partnership, the hospital will have access to new lab equipment before they enter the market. Furthermore, there will be collaboration in research, and the USB would be responsible for practical training. The partnership further involves the collaboration with numerous biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.
Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to establish five molecular competence centres worldwide. The pathology unit of the USB is the first institution to be accepted, as the only competence centre partner in Switzerland.
Hospital car park also for residential use
A preliminary project for the use of the car park at the University Children‘s Hospital is about to be launched. The public planning permission for the car park, which can hold up to 220 vehicles, is to be published after the summer holidays.
An underground car park under the Tschudimatte should ease the lack of parking space near the University children‘s hospital UKBB. The three storeys should contain 110 parking spaces each, the UKBB told the news agency sda on request on Wednesday.
A preliminary project should clarify whether the planned three storeys can be achieved. The costs cannot exceed 15 million franks, the UKBB said.
According to the hospital there is a demand for 200 spaces, instead of the now available 80 spaces in the nearby city parking.
According to the Basel department for construction and traffic (BVD), the car park needs a development plan which also contains the distribution of parking spaces – since it should also be available for residents.
The park should be available for residents and the neighbouring school without any hindrance after the construction has been finished. Then the park will be developed by the city gardeners, the BVD wrote.