"This distinction goes beyond the symbolic": Cannes hospital, ambassador for organ and tissue donation

Continue to save lives through knowledge and dialogue. On Monday, July 21, 2025, Simone-Veil Hospital was designated an ambassador for organ and tissue donation , by signing the eponymous charter.

A distinction that carries a strong commitment: to raise public awareness of the importance of clearly expressing one's choice to become a donor and thus, to bring this very important gesture to life.

"This distinction goes beyond the symbolic: it embodies our collective commitment to a deeply human, supportive, and life-giving gesture," confides the director of the establishment, Jean-Mathieu Defour. "It is an act of transmission, which transforms an end into a beginning, a loss into a possibility of rebirth."

Every year in France, more than 21,000 patients wait for a transplant. And while fifteen lives are saved every day through organ donation, two to three people still die due to a lack of a compatible transplant. A single donor can save up to seven lives.

A committed ambassador

In this context, the Cannes hospital wishes to reaffirm its active role in the donation and transplant chain and to be a committed ambassador.

"Expressing one's choice is already an act of solidarity. Because French law is based on the principle of presumed consent: we are all donors, unless we have expressed a refusal. But the coordination teams always defer to relatives, because no one takes a sample without respect, without listening, without humanity," recalls Jean-Mathieu Defour.

Today, 80% of French people say they are in favor of organ donation. However, in reality, 36% of donations are still refused by families, often due to a lack of prior communication .

Hence the importance of opening dialogue. "We now know that these donations refused by relatives are often refused due to a lack of dialogue," he notes.

Communication and collective engagement

The hospital is fully committed to this dynamic since in 2023, its teams removed 91 tissue grafts - including 86 corneas - and enabled the transplant of six organs from brain-dead donors.

"We are proud to be a link in this wonderful chain of life." Which must continue to be kept alive and strengthened through words, information, and collective commitment.

"This ceremony gives even more meaning to our mission and to what we collectively carry: saving lives. So yes, we must talk about giving. Make it part of our conversations, like a reflex, just as we talk about our wishes, our projects, or our will."

"So that no more patients die for lack of a transplant, so that their wishes are heard, so that generosity becomes a societal reflex" , the Cannes hospital now carries a true message of life.