Switzerland plans opt-out organ donation system from 2027

Switzerland is expected to introduce an expanded opt-out organ donation system in 2027, meaning people who do not want to donate their organs or tissue after death will have to record that decision, SRF reports.

More than 2,000 people were waiting for an organ transplant in Switzerland last year. Of those, 643 received a transplant, while 67 died before a suitable organ became available.

Everyone must make a personal decision

Swiss voters approved the change in 2022. Under the current consent-based system, people who want to donate their organs after death must explicitly state their wishes. The new system will reverse this principle.

Claudia Vonlanthen, a senior intensive care physician at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital and head of the Transalpina organ donation network, said the change would first make organ donation more visible in public debate. Transalpina is one of five Swiss networks that follow federal and cantonal guidelines and coordinate organ donation procedures in their regions.

The Federal Office of Public Health plans a major information campaign. Its central message will be that everyone should decide during their lifetime whether they want to donate their organs.

Decision can ease pressure on relatives

Vonlanthen said a recorded decision could relieve relatives, who are often in an emotionally exceptional situation when a person is approaching death. If the person’s wishes are unknown, relatives may find it difficult to actively consent to organ removal and may be more likely to refuse.

She stressed that organ donation was “an absolutely personal decision”. If someone refuses, she said, medical staff would not press them or try to change their mind. The same applies if relatives do not want to make the decision themselves. “We are not moralists who judge whether someone is acting well or badly,” Vonlanthen said.

In 2025, 2,109 people were waiting for an organ in Switzerland. Most needed a kidney, followed by a liver or lung. Switzerland has six transplant centres, and donations can include the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine, as well as various tissues and cells.