Some recent cases have raised the issue again of organ donation from people who are brain dead, but had all their other organs in good condition. It is worth remembering that donation is an altruistic gesture, considered as the greatest act of kindness among human beings. Currently there are thousands of people who need a transplant to continue living or improve their quality of life. Thus, Portuguese legislation is based on the concept of presumed donation, whereby a person, from the moment he is born, acquires the status of a donor.
Anyone wishing not to be a donor will have to, on their own initiative, or through someone with the right to represent them (parents, in the case of minors), register with the National Registry of Non-Donors (RENNDA). This objection may be total or partial. Let’s understand better what RENNDA is.
Organ Donor: If you don't want to, you have to say
The reality has always been that the waiting lists for organ and tissue transplantation continue to increase and the number of donors cannot be increased. The only way to solve this problem is to be an organ donor and encourage the people around us to do the same, the more organ donors there are, the greater the number of lives that can be saved.
As mentioned, Portuguese legislation is based on the concept of presumed donation. Therefore, each of the Portuguese citizens, from the moment they are born, are automatically registered as donors.
This is, however, a topic that does not gather consensus and many people, families, are taken by surprise when it is time to say goodbye to their relative. As we saw recently, actress Anne Heche, after being declared brain dead. The actress was kept on life support for her organs to be harvested.
But what if the person doesn't want to be a donor? In this case, Portuguese law allows her to join RENNDA.
How can I register as a non-donor?
Enrollment in the National Registry of Non-Donors (RENNDA) is carried out by submitting a printed of the Ministry of Health, by the interested party or by whoever represents him/her, in any health unit.
The completion of the form is controlled by the employee at the time of submission and upon presentation of identification. Receipt of the form is confirmed by the immediate delivery of a copy attesting to the entry of the form at the services, legibly signed by the official or agent in charge.
The inscription on INCOME takes effect four working days after receipt of the form. This registration as a non-donor can be done at any health center and at any time of life.
What are the documents needed?
To register as a non-donor, you only need the Citizen Card. In addition, personal data will be collected for automated processing.
These are the requested data:
- Name
- address
- naturalness
- nationality
- birth date
- sex
- Citizen Card
- organs, tissues or purposes that are not donated
You data are kept for 10 years following the death of the holder of the register. Attention, this order does not have any costs for the wearer.
Am I entitled to a non-donor card?
All citizens who have registered with the National Registry of Non-Donors (RENNDA) are provided with an individual non-donor card.
THE Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS) issues and sends the individual non-donor card to the recipient within a maximum period of 30 days from the receipt of the form opposing the donation.
Who can consult the National Non-Donor Registry?
Public or private hospitals that carry out collections post-mortem of tissues or organs must, before starting the collection, verify the existence of opposition or restrictions on donation contained in the National Registry of Non-Donors (RENNDA). To this end, they have access to RENNDA.
The collection of tissues by the institutes of forensic medicine can only be carried out after verification of non-opposition to it, through consultation with RENNDA.
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