By James Badcock, Madrid8:21PM GMT 24 Feb 2015
Spanish doctors are to use high-speed trains to transport organs for transplant under a new deal between the country’s health and infrastructure ministries.
Spain is already the world leader in terms of donations per capita and this latest logistical advance is viewed as an opportunity to boost the number of kidney transplants in which partners from couples without compatibility donate their organs to other couples in a chain of solidarity.
“We saw an opportunity to unite engineering excellence with our branch of organisational engineering,” said Dr Rafael Matesanz, the director of Spain’s National Transplant Organisation (ONT).
Dr Matesanz is credited with transforming Spain’s organ and tissue transplant industry from medical mediocrity to the envy of the world over the past 25 years.