Organ Donation Declaration Chile

Organ Donation Declaration Chile is a personal declaration governed by Article 2 bis of Ley N° 19.451 — the Ley sobre Trasplante y Donación de Órganos, originally enacted in 1996 and substantially amended by Ley N° 20.413 of 2010 and Ley N° 21.145 of 2019 — that enables a person to formally record their wishes regarding the donation of organs and tissues after death. Chile's organ donation system was transformed by Ley N° 21.145, published in the Diario Oficial on 22 January 2019, which established the presumed consent model (presunción de donación): every adult in Chile who has not formally registered as a non-donor with the Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP) is presumed to consent to the donation of all organs and tissues after death.

The Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP) — the national public health regulatory agency under MINSAL — administers the Registro de No Donantes (non-donor registry) established by Ley N° 21.145. Any adult (mayor de 18 años) who does not wish to donate organs after death must affirmatively register their opt-out with the ISP. The registration process is accessible online through the ISP website (ispch.cl), at ISP offices, and at Registro Civil e Identificación service points nationwide. Under Ley N° 21.145 Art. 2 ter, a person's opt-out registration is irrevocable within the first 90 days after registration — this cooling-off provision was designed to ensure deliberate, considered decisions.

Before Ley N° 21.145, Chile operated under an opt-in system where explicit consent was required — individuals had to affirmatively register as donors with the Registro Civil e Identificación. The transition to presumed consent followed years of advocacy by the Corporación del Trasplante (Chile's national transplant advocacy organization), MINSAL, and the medical community, responding to a chronic shortage of donor organs that left thousands of patients on transplant waiting lists managed by the Coordinadora Nacional de Trasplantes.

The Coordinadora Nacional de Trasplantes — under the División de Gestión de Redes Asistenciales of MINSAL — coordinates organ procurement from deceased donors in hospitals across Chile. Organ procurement follows protocols established by MINSAL's Norma General Técnica N° 185 on Donación y Trasplante de Órganos y Tejidos, which governs brain-death certification (certificación de muerte encefálica) by hospital teams, donor evaluation, family notification, and allocation of organs to recipients on the national waiting list.

The Fondo Nacional de Salud (FONASA) and ISAPRE-contracted health facilities cover transplantation costs for beneficiaries under the GES (Garantías Explícitas en Salud) protocol for renal transplant (trasplante renal) and for other transplants covered by the Régimen de Garantías en Salud. The Instituto de Salud Pública supervises tissue banks (bancos de tejidos) — corneas, bone, skin — that operate separately from organ donation under additional protocols approved by the ISP under Ley N° 19.451.

An organ donation declaration in Chile is needed in two principal contexts: for persons who wish to formally confirm and specify the scope of their donation under the presumed consent system, and for persons who wish to formally opt out of donation by registering with the ISP's Registro de No Donantes.

Adults who support organ donation in principle but wish to specify particular organs or tissues — for example, consenting to donation of solid organs (riñones, hígado, corazón, pulmones, páncreas) but not tissues (córneas, hueso, piel, válvulas cardíacas) — should execute a formal declaration to ensure their specific wishes are documented beyond the presumed general consent under Ley N° 21.145. Without a specific declaration, all organs and tissues are presumptively available for donation.

Persons with religious or cultural beliefs that restrict organ donation — members of Jehovah's Witnesses communities (Testigos de Jehová), who may object to certain blood-related procedures; members of indigenous communities (pueblo mapuche, rapa nui) with specific beliefs about bodily integrity after death; or members of other faith communities — should register as non-donors with the ISP if they do not consent to donation, since the presumption of consent is the legal default under Ley N° 21.145.

Patients executing voluntades anticipadas declarations under Ley N° 20.584 Art. 16 should address organ donation in a coordinated manner — confirming, limiting, or opting out in the voluntades anticipadas while ensuring consistency with the ISP registry status. A voluntades anticipadas declaration that conflicts with the ISP registry creates potential confusion for transplant teams.

Families of patients who have been certified as brain-dead (muerte encefálica) in Chilean hospitals are approached by trained hospital donation coordinators (coordinadores hospitalarios de donación) who have been appointed in all hospitals with more than 100 beds under MINSAL's Programa de Trasplante. Even under presumed consent, hospital teams in Chile typically approach families to discuss donation — a family's knowledge of a formal donation declaration or ISP opt-out registration significantly facilitates this process and reduces family distress.

Medical and nursing students (estudiantes de medicina y enfermería), healthcare professionals registered with the Colegio Médico de Chile, Colegio de Enfermeras de Chile, and other health professional bodies, and public employees are increasingly encouraged by MINSAL and the Corporación del Trasplante to execute and publicize their donation declarations as part of national awareness campaigns, given Chile's transplant waiting list that currently includes over 2,000 patients waiting for a kidney alone.

A comprehensive organ donation declaration for Chile, consistent with Ley N° 19.451 Art. 2 bis and Ley N° 21.145, should contain the following essential elements:

Declarant Full Identity: Full legal name, RUT, date of birth, domicile, and contact information. Under Ley N° 21.145, only adults (mayores de 18 años) may execute opt-out registrations with the ISP; minors are treated as donors under the presumed consent system unless a parent or legal guardian has registered an opt-out on their behalf.

Donation Status Declaration: An express statement of one of three positions: (a) Confirmation of donation (confirmación de donación) — the declarant confirms their presumed consent status and affirms willingness to donate; (b) Specific donation (donación específica) — the declarant consents to donation of specified organs or tissues only, with a list of what is included and excluded; (c) Non-donation opt-out (exclusión de donación) — the declarant opts out of the presumed consent system and directs registration with the ISP Registro de No Donantes under Ley N° 21.145 Art. 2 ter.

Specification of Organs and Tissues: For persons choosing specific donation rather than general consent, a detailed list of: (a) Solid organs consented to donation: kidneys (riñones), liver (hígado), heart (corazón), lungs (pulmones), pancreas (páncreas), small intestine (intestino delgado); (b) Tissues consented to donation: corneas (córneas), bone (tejido óseo), skin (piel), heart valves (válvulas cardíacas), blood vessels (vasos sanguíneos); (c) Any specific exclusions from the general presumed consent.

Research and Teaching Authorization: Whether the declarant consents to their organs or tissues being used for medical research (investigación médica) or teaching (formación médica) purposes in addition to — or instead of — transplantation. Chilean universities (Pontificia Universidad Católica, Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Concepción) and research institutions conduct medical research using donated tissues under ISP-supervised protocols.

Family Notification Preference: A statement of whether the declarant wishes their next of kin (familiares) to be consulted before donation proceeds, and identification of the family member or healthcare representative to be notified. While under Ley N° 21.145 family refusal cannot legally override the presumed consent, hospital teams in Chile typically seek family agreement as a matter of practice and ethics.

Coordination with Voluntades Anticipadas: Reference to any voluntades anticipadas declaration or mandato de cuidados médicos that addresses organ donation, ensuring consistency between all advance directive documents. A coherent package of advance directives reduces confusion for the hospital donation coordinator and treating team.

ISP Registration Confirmation: For non-donor declarations, an express instruction to the declarant (or their legal representative) to complete registration with the ISP Registro de No Donantes (accessible at ispch.cl or in person at ISP or Registro Civil e Identificación offices) and to keep documentary evidence of the registration. The personal declaration document alone is not a substitute for ISP registration under Ley N° 21.145.

Notarial Authentication: Execution before a notario público to create a legally authenticated instrumento público that can be recognized by hospital donation coordinators, the Coordinadora Nacional de Trasplantes, FONASA, and ISAPRE entities. Notarial authentication is not strictly required by Ley N° 19.451 for the declaration, but significantly strengthens its legal standing.

Distribution of Copies: The original should be held by the declarant; copies provided to the designated healthcare representative or mandatario; the primary physician (médico de cabecera); and the MINSAL Registro Nacional de Voluntades Anticipadas alongside any voluntades anticipadas declaration. A copy should be carried by the declarant in their wallet, and digital copies stored on health apps or emergency contact information.

Forms-legal.com provides this organ donation declaration template to help Chilean adults clearly document their organ donation wishes consistent with Ley N° 19.451 Art. 2 bis and Ley N° 21.145. Persons with questions about the medical aspects of donation should consult MINSAL's Programa Nacional de Trasplante information resources or contact the Corporación del Trasplante directly. Los usuarios de forms-legal.com pueden descargar este documento de forma gratuita en formato PDF o DOCX, completar los campos del formulario guiado y obtener un documento listo para firma.