[Donor action program].

Recent advances of organ transplantation accelerated shortage of organs. Donor Action Program (DAP) was developed to establish a proper donation process in a hospital using total quality management methodology. It has been demonstrated effective in increasing donation and has been introduced in 23 countries. In Japan preliminary study demonstrated that (1) DAP could be implemented and was likely to increase donation in Japan, (2) Japanese healthcare staffs were likely to underestimate social needs and clinical results of transplantation and to be suspicious about brain death, (3) they had limited knowledge and experience in communicating with family members of the deceased, and their needs for education were not satisfied. In order to implement DAP in Japan, an organization which is responsible for data management and development for educational program should be considered with high priority.