This has resulted in a contract signed 14 years ago between Iceland Health and the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, on organ transplantation and transplantation. According to a recent annual report, which contains these figures, and other interesting statistics from recent years, 209 individuals from Iceland have undergone organ transplantation since 2009.

Sahlgrenska University Hospital

The Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg has been operating for nearly 250 years and is also Sweden’s largest hospital and one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. The hospital, which is considered to be a leader in Swedish clinical research, is the most modern pediatric hospital in Europe. The hospital is a major player in a large European Union collaboration (ERN) which brings together healthcare professionals from all over Europe who deal with complex and/or rare health issues that require specialized treatment based on knowledge, experience and appropriate facilities.

Closer co-operation between the Nordic countries

The hospital's vision is to increase its capacity to receive foreign patients from around the world, but Sahlgrenska has stated that cross-border co-operation is vital to them and in this context it mentions that the number of project requests from neighbouring hospitals increased in 2023. The hospital welcomes such requests, which call for increased cross-border co-operation between the Nordic countries and promote the development of specialised healthcare services for the benefit of the public. These include project requests such as gender identification procedures, breast cancer procedures, infant heart surgery and neurosurgery.

In 2023, the number of transplants donated by the hospital was the highest in history, with 109 recipients, 10 of whom came from Iceland. Compared to the other Nordic countries, Iceland was second in the rankings, after Finland, i.e., the head count is taken into account. A total of 37 recipients from Iceland made up 3.7 organs per donor.

Iceland Health has a contract for the reception of Icelandic patients, along with a comprehensive contract, but there is also a more specific contract in place that addresses more specific issues, such as organ donation, plastic surgery of children’s head and face area. It should also be noted that formal agreements on cooperation are also in place between Iceland Health and other hospitals in Sweden, including Karolinska in Stockholm and the Hospital in Lund.

Number of organs sent from Iceland

Number of patients from Iceland undergoing organ donation