To mark the release of Karim Dridi's film "Revivre", the Agence de la biomédecine reminds us of the need for pediatric organ donations for young patients.
Published on 28 February 2024
In France, babies and young children are waiting for a transplant. Yet the number of pediatric organ donors has fallen by 31% since 2018. This decline raises the twofold question of the level of information and the rate of parental opposition to donation. Children waiting for transplants still have to wait too long, despite the priority given to them.
What about pediatric organ donation?
Some parents are confronted with the issue of pediatric organ donation. This subject raises ethical and psychological questions for caregivers, but above all for families, who have to decide in a very short space of time whether their deceased child can be a potential donor.
You can never be prepared for your child's death, but you can be prepared for the question of organ donation. Saying YES to organ donation is a courageous and generous act, enabling other children to go on living.
Organ transplantation in children requires the availability of organs of a size suited to their morphology. In 2023, 18 children died for lack of a compatible graft.
Pediatric organ donation in France: an activity that still needs to progress
In 2023, France registered 48 pediatric donors, 13 of whom were under the age of 5. The number of pediatric donors recovering at least one organ has fallen by 31% since 2018. Yet these donations are essential for treating babies or young children waiting for a transplant.
Fortunately, the number of children waiting for a transplant represents a very small proportion of those on the waiting list. However, by 2023, there will be 260 new pediatric patients on the waiting list, including 118 for liver, 111 for kidney and 25 for heart.
Children are always given priority over adults when an organ is available and suited to their morphology, but the median waiting time is still too long:
- 11.1 months for kidneys,
- 2.1 months for liver,
- 2 months for heart.
The importance of dialogue in overcoming the difficulties of pediatric organ donation
For Marine Jeantet, Director General of the Agence de la biomédecine: "In the midst of everyday life, convoys like no other carry an organ destined to save a life, sometimes a young child, sometimes an older person. There's no age limit to receiving an organ, just as there's no age limit to donating them: we're all concerned, all donors, all recipients".
More than ever, organ procurement and transplantation activities are facing the challenge of continuing to increase to meet the growing needs of patients on waiting lists, at a time when the hospital sector is experiencing major difficulties.
Over the past 10 years, we have seen a decline in the number of paediatric donors (especially children under 4 years of age), coupled with an increase in parental opposition to donation. Pediatric donation requires the explicit consent of both parents.
The pediatric objection rate will reach 47% in 2023, compared with 30% in 2011. This rate remains higher than the average opposition rate observed in adults (36% in 2023).
That's why it's so important to raise parents' awareness when everything's going well, when the question doesn't arise, so as to anticipate when it might. It's a very rare situation, but if it does arise, the fact that parents have talked about it beforehand really changes the way they approach things. This dialogue is all the more important for children awaiting transplants, whose only chance of survival is to receive another child's organ.
On the occasion of the release of Karim Dridi's film "Revivre" on February 28, the Agence de la biomédecine is encouraging this approach to raising public awareness, which shows life in a pediatric intensive care unit and the difficult day-to-day lives of parents with their babies awaiting transplants. The film makes it clear that there can be no transplant without harvesting. The film also explores a range of emotions, showing us the bond between parents and caregivers, and between parents and their children. The director sheds a moving light on a little-known and still taboo subject.
ABOUT THE AGENCE DE LA BIOMÉDECINE I The Agence de la biomédecine is a national agency created by the French bioethics law of 2004. Its missions cover organ, tissue and cell procurement and transplantation, as well as human reproduction, embryology and genetics. The Agence de la biomédecine does everything in its power to ensure that every patient receives the care they need, in compliance with the rules of health safety, ethics and fairness. Through its expertise, it is the reference authority on the medical, scientific and ethical aspects of these issues.
Press contact: justine.meyer@omnicomprgroup.com 06 72 64 82 50 ; safa.lamghari@omnicomprgroup.com 06 22 48 59 07
Agence de la biomédecine I 1 Avenue du Stade de France I 93212 SAINT-DENIS LA PLAINE Cedex I T. 01 55 93 65 56 www.agence-biomedecine.fr
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