Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541835
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 DECEMBER 2025 NEWS MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt free entrance SalinA national park, st paul's bay 12 th to 21 st December MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY & PUBLIC CLEANLINESS Public consultation on new organ transplant system THE Health Ministry has launched a public consultation aimed at changing Malta's organ donation system, but a previous proposal to include an opt-out system has been ditched. Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said the change involves harvesting one's or- gans after cardiac death instead of brain death, a model called donation after circulatory death (DCD). The key difference be- tween DCD and donations after brain death is that the former can be done if the patient has no hope of recovery and their life is simply being prolonged with treatment. Abela said that after consult- ing with experts, Malta won't be moving toward an opt-out sys- tem of organ donation. Last year, government and the Opposition found common ground after PN MP Ivan Bar- tolo proposed a shift towards an opt-out system. The proposal would have presumed that peo- ple over the age of 16 would be organ donors after their death unless they would have opted out. In this way, doctors would not require the permission of next of kin to harvest organs in the case of death. When asked why such plans were scrapped, the health minis- ter said an opt-out system simply wouldn't increase organ trans- plants as much as a DCD system. Bartolo, who was also present for the press conference, agreed with the latest proposal. Abela explained that under a DCD system, organ transplants could increase by as much as 40% to 50%. The minister said consultations with experts and church leaders in Malta and Gozo, showed they were all on the same page on a shift to a DCD system. The public consultation will be open for the next two months. The health minister said the change would mean more invest- ment in the healthcare sector in order to equip Malta's hospitals on the surge in demand of organ harvesting. Last week, MaltaToday report- ed that among the patients await- ing organ transplants, 95 people are in need of kidney transplants. One person is waiting for a heart transplant, another is waiting for a new liver, and three people need a lung transplant. Under a DCD system, organ transplants could increase by as much as 40% to 50%