Dr. Paul Beinhofer

As District President of Lower Franconia I am very happy for Würzburg to be the venue for the European Championship of Transplants and Dialysis Patients. This event is held this year in Germany for the first time, and I warmly welcome all participants to our part of Germany, which is Lower Franconia.

For a whole week athletes from more than 20 European countries will compete with one another in a wide variety of disciplines, demonstrating the way sport fosters international understanding and crosses barriers caused by both borders and physical disabilities. Engaging in sport is vital to physical well-being, contentment, and enjoyment of life.

However, the event is also designed to draw attention to the important issue of organ donation. Nationwide, there is a serious shortage of donor organs, causing nearly 12,000 people in Germany to currently wait for a liver, heart, lung, or pancreas. Only if we begin to see organ donation as the responsibility of society as a whole and go on to actually document our willingness to donate with an organ donor pass, can we effectively improve the long-term chances of survival for those of us who depend on a donor organ, and give a new lease of life to all those people affected. The Bavarian State government, too, considers increasing people’s willingness to be organ donors to be one of its high-priority health-policy objectives.

The performances by transplants and dialysis patients on the occasion of your European Championships have provided powerful proof of what new vitality and quality of life can be achieved by the recipients of a successful organ transplant. The TransDia association, which for the first time hosts these championships in Germany, is making an important contribution to initiating this change of attitude in society and raising the public’s awareness of this issue.

Würzburg itself is one of Bavaria’s five transplant centres that has earned an excellent reputation with its kidney, pancreatic and liver transplants. In addition, the city has a well-developed infrastructure for dialysis patients including well-equipped out-patient dialysis centres available to athletes throughout the event.

Finally, our goal is to make sure that all participants, visitors, organisers, tutors, and volunteers from many European countries will feel at home here in Würzburg itself as well as in the entire region of Lower Franconia.

On that note, I wish you an enjoyable and successful time in Würzburg, many thrilling competitions, and a rewarding exchange of ideas and experience. My special thanks go to the organisers and sponsors of the European Championship for their exemplary sense of commitment.

Dr. Paul Beinhofer
District President of Lower Franconia