As part of the pilot project, information brochures and organ donor cards will be made available directly at the town hall
. In addition, registration in an online organ donation register at
, which will be available next year, will be encouraged. The health department at the Ludwigsburg district office and the
patient association "Lebertransplantierte Deutschland e.V." are offering local authorities support in implementing
.
Manne Lucha, Minister for Social Affairs, Health and Integration, thanked the Ludwigsburg initiative in his welcoming address at the
information event on behalf of all waiting patients. He praised "the exemplary
project" and hopes that many others in Baden-Württemberg will follow suit. "Every encounter in the town hall should be a
good encounter," said Lucha.
After the screening of the short film "Abgeholt" ("Picked up") with a two-year-old and an over eighty-year-old liver transplant recipient
, Dr. Uschi Traub, Head of Health Promotion at the Department of Health, explained
why organ donations are needed: "Without giving, there is no taking." She also explained the content of the
Transplantation Act, which regulates the donation, removal, procurement and transfer of organs in Germany
. It was last amended in 2020 with the Act to Strengthen the Willingness to Decide on Organ Donation
Günter Wanner from Beilstein, who has had a liver transplant for four years, and Kerstin Reichert from Affalterbach, who has had a heart transplant for
almost 13 years, told their personal stories.
Dr. Christina Schleicher, Managing Director of the German Organ Transplantation Foundation (DSO),
Baden-Württemberg region, vividly described the entire process of organ donation,
removal and transplantation. Two qualified doctors independently and in agreement
establish proof of irreversible loss of brain function ("brain death"). "The examiners must
not be involved in the removal or transfer of the organs," clarified Schleicher.
Josef Theiss from the Patientenverband Lebertransplantierte Deutschland e.V. (German Liver Transplant Patients' Association) highlighted various ways to
make a declaration on organ donation and the tasks of the citizens' offices, which materials
they should display, where they can get support and so on. "If everyone decides for themselves
, it is a great relief for relatives," said Theiss.
Contact for further information and booking counseling appointments at town halls:
Dr. Uschi Traub
Ute Nethe
Tel. 07141 144-2520
Email: gesundheitsfoerderung@landkreis-ludwigsburg.de
