Transplant organizations share Prince of Asturias cooperation award

Spain's 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for international cooperation was awarded on Wednesday to the Transplantation Society and the Spanish National Transplant Organization.

Founded in 1966, the Transplantation Society is the leading international organization in human transplantation. It provides a worldwide forum for doctors and researchers to share findings and ideas, explore new treatments and formulate definitions and concepts crucial for progress.

The Transplantation Society is responsible for setting clinical practice guidelines, advancing training programs and promoting ethical standards for clinical care and scientific research.

It is also one of the main voices against the commercialization of organs and so-called transplant tourism.

Meanwhile, the Spanish National Transplant Organization was founded in 1980, aiming at maximizing the number of transplants possible and allowing an organ to reach the person who needs it despite his or her socioeconomic status, race, or religion.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation highlights the fact that since the creation of the organization, "the rate of donors in Spain has increased 280 percent, and over 70,000 solid organ transplants and 200,000 tissue and cell transplants have been performed."

The award, presented in Spain's northern city of Oviedo, is part of a series of annual prizes funded by the Prince of Asturias Foundation to individuals and entities worldwide who make notable achievements in science, arts, letters, international cooperation, understanding and sport.

Source: Xinhua