- Total donations in the first five months of this year show an increase of 10.60%, with 146 donations compared to 132 in 2024.
- By province, 89 donations have been registered in Valencia, 45 in Alicante and 12 in Castellón
In 2024, a historic record was reached for both organ donation and transplantation in the Valencian Community.
Living organ donation in the Valencian Community has more than doubled in the first five months of this year, rising from 4 last year to 10 in 2025.
To donate a living organ, you must be of legal age and in good physical and mental health. Spanish law guarantees that all rights of both the donor and the recipient are respected and that it is voluntary, free of charge, and altruistic. In the case of living organ donation, transplant recipients are almost always immediate family members of the donors.
Regarding total donations in these first five months of the year, there has also been an increase of 10.60%. Thus, 14 more donations were made than in 2024, increasing from 132 to 146. Of these, 89 donations were recorded in Valencia, 45 in Alicante, and 12 in Castellón.
These figures were provided by the regional transplant coordinator, Rafael Badenes, to commemorate National Organ and Tissue Donor Day, which takes place on the first Wednesday in June.
In this regard, Badenes especially thanked “all the donors and their families who, at the most difficult moment of their lives, with the death of a loved one, said yes to donation.”
The regional coordinator also expressed his gratitude to all the professional transplant teams “for their involvement, availability, and professionalism.”
TRANSPLANTING ACTIVITY
Regarding transplant activity, transplant teams performed a total of 285 organ transplants between January and May 2025, compared to 296 during the same period in 2024.
“This is because, despite the increase in the number of donations, our waiting list has fortunately decreased considerably thanks to the tremendous amount of activity last year,” Badenes emphasized.
“In fact,” he continued, “we have ‘exported’ many more organs than in previous years; that is, we have generated organs that are transplanted outside the Valencian Community to other patients who need them, reinforcing a model of national cohesion.”
It should be remembered that in 2024 there was a historic record for both donation and transplants in the Valencian Community, with 305 donations, a growth of 11.3% compared to the previous year and a rate of 57.4 donors per million population, much higher than the national average (52.6), with the province of Castellón standing out with the highest rate in the world, with 95 donors per million population.
Furthermore, the Valencian Community recorded a 14.3% increase in organ transplants compared to 2023, with a total of 696 transplants performed.
While the total number of transplants decreased by 3.7% this year, kidney transplants increased by 16.14%, with 187 kidney transplants performed in 2025 compared to 161 in 2024.
By hospitals, La Fe Hospital leads the kidney transplant activity with 58 kidney transplants (1 pediatric), followed by Doctor Peset Hospital, with 35 transplants and Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante, with 33. The Clínico de València Hospital, with 23 transplants, General de Elche, with 22 and General de Castellón, with 16 transplants, complete the kidney transplant activity.
Furthermore, in these first five months, La Fe Hospital has performed 33 liver transplants (2 pediatric), 19 heart transplants (2 pediatric), 35 lung transplants, and 2 pancreas transplants. Meanwhile, Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante has performed 9 liver transplants.
EUROPEAN QUALITY AND SAFETY GUIDE
Badenes participated in the development of the ninth guideline for the quality and safety of organs for transplantation, a document drafted by a group of experts selected by the Council of Europe.
The guide is a reference for all professionals involved in organ donation and transplantation and is the most consulted document on the subject in the world.
This edition reviews all current topics, highlighting developments in such timely areas as donation in controlled asystole and organ preservation systems, and the inclusion of new chapters on principles and best practices in the distribution of organs from deceased individuals.
“It is undoubtedly a source of pride to have been selected to draft the most important international document on organ donation and transplantation, and it reflects the fact that our community’s donation and transplant activity is an international benchmark,” concluded Rafael Badenes.
