In profile

Swisstransplant is the Swiss National Foundation for Organ Donation and Transplantation. On behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) it is responsible, as the national office, for the allocation of organs to recipients in accordance with the applicable law, and is in charge of the corresponding waiting list. It organizes at a national level all organ allocation activities and works closely with allocation organizations abroad. Furthermore, Swisstransplant regularly compiles relevant statistical data on the numbers of organ donors, transplants and waiting times.

Swisstransplant’s governing body is the Foundation Council. Today, its offices in Bern employ a team of almost 35 people, led by PD Dr med. Franz Immer. The coordination team responsible for organ allocation is available 24 hours a day. The director and the heads of each department are responsible for the executive management of Swisstransplant. The organization of Swisstransplant is split into two committees: the Medical Committee (CM) and the Comité National du Don d’Organes (CNDO). As the successor organization to the Swiss Foundation for Organ Donation (FSOD), CNDO prepares national standards for organ donation together with the regional network heads.

In 2009, Swisstransplant was commissioned by the Swiss Conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health (GDK) to coordinate the tasks of the cantons laid down in the Transplantation Act at a national level, to ensure them in collaboration with the donor networks and to exploit synergies. In this context, the National Committee for Organ Donation (CNDO) is responsible for drawing up national standards in the organ donation process. Since 2015, it has offered blended learning (e-learning module and in-class seminars) in three national languages. They gradually introduce medical professionals in hospitals to organ donations thereby ensuring training at a national level.

On behalf of the Shared Services Association of Swiss Health Insurers (SVK), the Swisstransplant offices are responsible for paying out the costs in the donation process, which are not reimbursed through the recipient’s case-based flat rate of Swiss Diagnosis Related Groups (SwissDRG) to the partners involved in the hospitals. In this context, Swisstransplant is responsible at a national level, together with its logistic partners Alpine Air Ambulance (AAA) and Touring Club Schweiz (TCS), for the overall transport logistics in the donation process.

In 2014, in the «Mehr Organe für Transplantationen» (More organs for transplantations) campaign, Swisstransplant was assigned the task of implementing three of the four defined action fields from the campaign in close cooperation with CNDO up to 2018.