zurich

New guidelines on procedures for organ transplantation are being incorporated into the Swiss constitution following their approval in a national referendum on 7 February.

The guidelines will establish general principles for a planned federal law regulating transplant medicine. At present, some Swiss cantons have legislation on transplants, while others have none at all.

The move prohibits organ donation for money, and requires fair and equal access to donated organs, regardless of sex, race or wealth. But it fails to take a firm stance on xenotransplantation, the definition of death, or transplants of embryo cells and tissues.

Environmentalists, animal activists and opponents of genetic engineering had campaigned against the constitutional proposal, mainly because it does not include an outright ban on xenotransplants. That issue will be regulated by a new federal law on transplant medicine being developed by the federal office of health. Thomas Zeltner, its director, says he does not expect the law to come into effect before 2002.

According to sources in Bern, a ban on xenotransplants is highly likely. The parliamentary health committee has voted in favour of a moratorium, and the government wants to outlaw the use of animal organs for transplants in general.

But clinical trials of xenotransplants offering potentially important therapeutic benefits could be allowed after special permission. Swisstransplant, a charity that currently regulates all transplant activities in Switzerland, welcomes the move as an urgent step towards clear and unified rules throughout the country.

But some experts warn that a ban on paid organ donation will not be helpful in resolving the chronic shortage of organs in Switzerland. Last year, 920 patients needing a transplant remained on waiting lists, while 28 died untreated.