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On 2 November a new campaign is being launched by NHS Blood and Transplant to encourage more people to sign up to donate organs.
Currently more than 10,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant to save or improve their lives, but only 3,500 were carried out last year. The reason is no surprise: there are just not enough registered donors.
Gordon Brown proposed a system of presumed consent, where people would automatically become donors unless they requested otherwise. To me this seems like the best possible solution. Every year people die because a donor cannot be found to allow their transplant to go ahead. The opt-out is used in Spain and other countries where it saves lives.
We are in general a lackadaisical people — NHS research has shown that while 90 per cent of people agree with the principle of organ donation, only 25 per cent have actually bothered to sign up. An opt-out scheme would solve this problem in one fell swoop. The current system penalises needy recipients; an opt-out would only penalise those who forget to opt out.
What I can understand is the public's desire that their organs should go to someone in genuine need, rather than someone who will waste the gift. George Best comes to mind as being very bad press for the organ donation service in many people's view. It's human nature to categorise into “deserving” and “undeserving” and seeing as the need for a liver transplant can be caused by either medical factors (which in the public eye means no one to blame) or lifestyle factors (which might be thought of as brought upon oneself by drug and alcohol abuse) it is easy to see how this affects people's willingness to donate. One could well ask if smokers should be denied heart or lung transplants too.
I think these problems run far deeper than just lifestyle choices. What if we aren't completely responsible for our unhealthy behaviours? As the Human Genome Project supplies us with more information on the genetic causes of behaviour, we are finding that drug and alcohol abuse have at least some genetic component, meaning some individuals are more susceptible to addiction than others. Perhaps we need to realise how little we understand the root causes of behaviour, and not take out our ignorance on those who seem to make bad lifestyle choices.
If you wish to donate your organs, and I hope that you do, please record your wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Before you think of any more excuses I just want to clarify a few myths: organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of most major religions, there's no defined cut-off age for donating organs so you are not too old, and there are very few medical conditions that will automatically disqualify you from donating organs, so please don't discount yourself prematurely. Only medical professionals can determine whether your organs are suitable for transplantation at the time of your death, and trust me that unlike the ancient Egyptians you really don't need them in the afterlife.
Reader views (4)
I am quite clear on this. The 'govt' plans to steal from my life's work and savings with something called inheritance tax. I want to leave it to my children. Now the govt want to steal my organs too. So, I'll do a deal:if they say that I do not have to pay inheritance tax, I will donate my organs to them. Seems fair to me.
- John Bell, Nottm, UK
"If the government wants there to be more donors" - The Government? People, us, the citizens want more donors, thats why this is a free choice. I dont want the Government owning my body parts unless I choose otherwise, its a generous and helpful act of compassion to offer yours, or a recently deceased loved ones organs to help someone else. Its entirely different to have someone tell you that your daugher/husband/mother has had their organs already harvested because they didnt opt out. Wouldnt that just make it worse - that the government owned that body and decided to use it without any discussion. I'm not saying that people will necessarily want to opt out, but its much better to opt in. Its my body, so I choose.
I agree that we need more donors, lets get more campaigns, information etc. If only 25% have signed up, but 90% say they're willing, then must be something we can do to close the gap. Or maybe that 90% dont actually want to donate, but who wants to tell a researcher that?
Lets not have the government take over any more ownership of our lives. Its bad enough already.
- Gc, London, UK
Make it so that people who have been registered as potential donors get first dibs on donated organs. If you haven't been on the register for "x" years then you go to the very bottom of the queue.
- Jtdx, cph, denmark
If the government wants there to be more donors they can ask us nicely and more of us may agree to be donors.
However in the absence of our explicit consent they have no right to assume that we have consented. Our bodies are our own and ownership does not pass to the state on our death so that we can be used as a convenient source of spare parts.
End of story.
- Johnse18, London
