Overview
- Lawmakers opened a first reading on changes to the Transplantation Act that would legalize cross‑over exchanges and permit anonymous living kidney donation.
- Current law limits living donations to demonstrably close relationships with immunological compatibility, contributing to long waits for more than 6,000 patients.
- The proposal applies only to kidneys and foresees anonymous matching through a new national coordination office, with transplant centres reporting to an independent authority.
- Donor safeguards include compulsory psychosocial counselling, dedicated support throughout the process, and later prioritization if donors themselves need a kidney.
- Experts estimate about 100 additional transplants per year—roughly a five percent increase—as the medical chamber voices support and ethicists warn the reform will not end the organ shortage.