Mind the Gap: Disparities in Education on Organ Donation and Transplantation-Results of a Global Survey.
Background: Widely accessible education on organ donation and transplantation (ODT) is a tool to reduce waiting lists, as <10% of transplant needs are met (Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation). We aimed to assess the current state of access to education on ODT worldwide. Methods: We surveyed transplant physicians and surgeons worldwide. Respondents were classified according to the mean deceased donation (DD) rate per million population (PMP) of their countries from 2016 to 2021 (excluding 2020): Group (G) 1 (G1) no DD reported, or no data provided to Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation; (G2) <10 DD PMP; (G3) 10-19.9; (G4) 20-29.9; and (G5) ≥30. We inquired about the availability of education on ODT in countries and regions. Results: We analyzed 311 respondents. We observed that the availability of education on ODT was as follows: in postgraduate education (77.2% in countries, 70.4% in regions), in undergraduate medical school (52.8%, 50.6%), in elementary school (14.2%, 14.2%), in high school (24.6%, 25.7%), and for the public (58.8%, 57.2%). The highest challenges were observed mainly in countries with lower DD rates. Conclusions: This worldwide survey suggests that there are areas for improvement at a global level in education on ODT, spanning from schoolchildren to the public and from undergraduate to postgraduate medical students. This is a "Call to Action" to close the global education gap.
Authors
- Gabriel Eduardo Gondolesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3869-6213)
- Shaifali Sandal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1941-0598)
- Jean Tchervenkov
- Marcelo Cantarovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4766-3333)
- Karen M. Dwyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4376-9720)
- Stock Peter
- Elias John Elenjickal
- 하종원
- Hawthorne Wj
- Marti Manyalich
- Antoine Barbari
- H Pilmore
- Beatriz Dominguez-Gil Gonzalez
- Kumud Dhital
- Medhat Askar
- Gustavo Ferreira
- Mirela Bušić
- Stephen Beed
- Hiroto Egawa
- Nithya Krishnan
- Carlos Diaz
- Mario Abbud-Filho
- Vivek B. Kute
- Andrea Herrera-Gayol
- Oscar Imventarza
- Ban-Hock Tan
- Jeffrey Schiff
- Lara Danziger-Isakov
- Mohammad Ghnaimat
- Marina Berenguer
- John Gill
- Paola Garcia-Padilla
- Hari S Meshram
Institutions
- Tufts University (US)
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (US)
- Tufts Medical Center (US)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- The Royal Melbourne Hospital (AU)
- Apollo Hospitals (IN)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Georgetown University (US)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Singapore General Hospital (SG)
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO)
- Rafik Hariri University Hospital (LB)
- Argerich Hospital (AR)
- Montreal General Hospital (CA)
- Hospital de Base (BR)
- St. Paul's Hospital (CA)
- Auckland City Hospital (NZ)
- University Hospital Coventry (GB)
- McGill University Health Centre (CA)
- Toronto General Hospital (CA)
- MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (US)
- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (GB)
- Westmead Hospital (AU)
- Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe (ES)
- Specialty Hospital, Jordan (JO)
- Institute of Transplantation Sciences (IN)
- Hamamatsu Rosai Hospital (JP)
- Apollo Hospitals (IN)
- Apollo Hospitals (IN)
- Westmead Institute (AU)
- Westmead Institute for Medical Research (AU)
- Hospital Universitario San Ignacio (CO)
- Hospital de Base (BR)
- Instituto Cardiovascular de Buenos Aires (AR)
- Centro Universitário Academia (BR)
- Universidad Hospital Italiano (AR)
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe (ES)
- Conseil de L'Europe (FR)
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (CA)
- McGill University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PubMed
- Published
- 2026-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/txd.0000000000002002
- Primary Topic
- Organ Donation and Transplantation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00