Organ donor numbers fall to lowest level in 20 years

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The number of organ donors in Germany reached a new low in 2017. According to statistics from the German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO), there were only 797 donors, 60 fewer than in the previous year. This is the lowest level in 20 years, the foundation announced. Compared with other European countries, Germany is in a very poor position.

"Unfortunately, we will slip below the ten donors per million population mark for the first time ever. In 2017, there were 9.7," the dpa quotes Axel Rahmel, Medical Director of the DSO. In the history of the foundation, this has never happened before, not counting the early years of organ donation more than 30 years ago. "In an international comparison, Germany has so far been in the lower midfield. Now we are almost behind all other Western European countries in comparison. This is a dramatic development." The DSO figures refer to the 10. January registered organs for 2017 without living donations.

Rahmel sees the reasons for the decline in donor numbers in Germany less in the lack of willingness of the population. One cause, he says, is the enormous compression of services in clinics. It would also like to see improvements in the organization of the approximately 1250 clinics in Germany that are part of the organ donation system. In 2017, for example, Bavaria released transplantation officers for their duties for the first time. Organ donor numbers in Bavaria rose by 18 percent in 2017, the highest figure among all German states, he said.

No age limit for organ donation

Overall, the development of organ donor numbers in Germany varied greatly from region to region in 2017. While besides Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland also recorded an increase in donors, the national trend was generally downward. Because multiple organs can be removed from one donor, Germany reported a total of 2594 kidneys, livers, lungs or hearts to the international intermediary Eurotransplant in 2017, according to the DSO. In 2016, there were 2867 organs. There is no age limit for organ donors.

According to its own figures, Spain is the world leader in organ donation, with 46.9 donors per million inhabitants a year. That represents an eight percent increase since 2016, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced last week. There the contradiction solution applies: People must document it explicitly if they are against an organ removal after their death. This approach was demanded by SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach in an interview with the Nordwest-Zeitung (NWZ), a newspaper published in Oldenburg, Germany.

According to information from the Suddeutsche Zeitung, Belgium and Croatia are also far ahead with more than 30 organ donors per million inhabitants. Germany is in a network with Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia for organ exchange via Eurotransplant. Rahmel sees no danger of Eurotransplant excluding Germany because of low donor numbers. Due to its large population, Germany still contributes more organs to the network than other countries in absolute terms.

"Although more than 100 million euros were spent on advertising and organizing last year, organ donation is at rock bottom," criticized Eugen Brysch, Chairman of the German Foundation for Patient Protection. Nevertheless the topic is mentioned in the exploratory paper of Union and SPD with no word. With 10,000 critically ill people on the waiting list, urgent action is warranted, he said. The transplant system, for example, belongs in state hands, Brysch demanded. This is the only way to restore the trust of the population and of hospital physicians.

Lauterbach added: "People are not even concretely aware of the value of organ donation, they don't know what it means to wait desperately for an organ to arrive."

The Verfangsschutz
has called for a closer look at " Lateral thinking
"-Events announced. Recently, extremists had participated several times in the events of the movement.

"We know that in the so-called lateral thinking movement, or at least in the events that are organized by it, also extremists
, Reichsburger and the like to appear," said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Friday in Berlin. However, the movement that criticizes the Corona measures and takes to the streets against them is very diverse, he stressed. "One must look at this in a differentiated way."

Hamburg's head of interception Torsten Vob
told "Der Spiegel": "We are looking very closely at whether a separate extremist movement is emerging here that does not fit into the classic pigeonholes. There is a lot to be said for this."He also registered a growing readiness to use violence among the "lateral thinking" supporters. "There have already been two attacks, on a building of the Robert Koch Institute and in front of the Leibnitz Community in Berlin," Vob said.

Previously, Bavaria's Minister President

Markus Soder
(CSU) showed serious concern about the current development in an interview with the "Munchner Merkur" newspaper. He said, "A growing conglomerate of right-wing extremists, Reich citizens is developing, Anti-Semite
and absurd Conspiracy theorists
, who even accuse politics of satanism. Interception also needs to take a close look at what's going on. Because many of these groups want a different state."

"Thinking outside the box" demonstration in Leipzig causes barrel to overflow

Last was in Leipzig on 7. November a demonstration of the "lateral thinking" movement got out of hand . It came to Riot
and attacks on Police officers
. The latter had previously broken up the demonstration because many participants had not adhered to the Corona regulations.

At the request of Konstantin von Notz
, Vice chairman of the Green caucus
, the security authorities are to present concrete findings on the demonstration in Leipzig to the Bundestag's parliamentary control committee next week.

Verfangsschutzer take corona 'lateral thinkers' in their sights

"Thinking outside the box" demo: riots cause horror

"Also we want to know how the Mobilization
went off," said the interior politician, who is deputy chairman of the secretly meeting panel. The question should also be answered, which "mergers of actors and currents, for example from the right-wing extremist scene, the Reichsburgermilieu, Hooligans
As well as people who openly use anti-Semitic narratives and conspiracy ideologies" exist. About the meeting planned for Wednesday had first reported the SWR.

According to dpa-AFX, the carmaker Daimler pays employees a bonus if they are rarely sick, according to a new company agreement. Daimler and the works council agreed on an attendance bonus of a maximum of 200 euros gross per year. The full bonus is paid to employees who have not been unable to work for a single day within a year. Accordingly, it is distributed over a maximum of 50 euros per quarter. In the industry, this action is uncharted territory.

The bonus is part of a larger employee health agreement. In addition, there is a voluntary and free health check for all employees, which is intended, for example, to help with the early detection of health risks.

Daimler's works council head Michael Brecht said, "In weighing the interests, we ultimately decided to accept the attendance bonus for a limited period for the introduction of the health check. We managed to get it automatically phased out after two years, but the health check remains." He added: "We also ame that the sums involved will not cause anyone to drag themselves into the store ill."

Institute for Further Training of Works Councils sees the measure positively. In an analysis, the experts write:

Daimler tested the new "attendance bonus" for two years in a large-scale pilot project. Now it's getting serious: Every employee who does not miss work due to illness for a year will receive an extra bonus of 200 euros on top of his or her salary. Just now with the works council, a new company agreement closed.

The waves were already running high in the run-up to the event. A premium for not being sick? What is the purpose? What incentives are being set? And what excesses could this lead to?? Do employees come to work sick to avoid losing their entitlement? At least one thing is obvious: The bonus is quartered at 50 euros per quarter, which alone is probably far too low to get really sick people out of bed. But is it also low enough to at least not have to go to the office or into production with a huff after all? Here then the healthy colleagues are infected, who thank. But that's another matter.

The health premium is popular with both workforces and Controversial among health experts. This affects not only Daimler, but all companies that are active here. The automaker did well to test the matter for years. In any case, the result did not lead to the idea of abolishing it again.

The Stuttgarter Nachrichten quote the Works council chairman Michael Brecht. He presents the works council's approval as part of a balancing of interests. In the future, employees will receive a comprehensive, free health check for an unlimited period, while the attendance bonus will be phased out in two years' time. True conviction is expressed differently.

Health promotion and prevention – these are good and correct ways in the Occupational health management. The regulation at Daimler itself is actually much more differentiated than it was presented here. There are also provisions for hardship cases, for example.

The Stuttgart carmaker traditionally pays comparatively high salaries. 50 euros more per quarter won't have much effect as an incentive for most people. That's why it's clear: It's not so much about the money and the premium, but about something else: The signal effect. "Stay healthy" says the company "and we'll give you something for it – more or less symbolically". In addition, there are extremely real prevention programs, high-quality medical checks and health courses. Not bad.

Employee health seems to be high on Daimler's agenda – especially because of this controversial attendance bonus. Whether it is the pinnacle of knowledge remains to be seen. As part of a larger package, they will be able to cope.

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