A million more opt in as organ donors in Wales

Though there is a huge demand for organ transplantation in the country, it is lagging behind for want of organ donation, they said and urged the government, NGOs, institutions and individuals to join hands to create awareness among the people to encourage organ donation. Ministers have said more than two-thirds of people in Wales are now aware of the changes and they hoped a “leap in consent rates” would follow.

Started by the Department of Health and Human Services in 1997 as a part of the United States donation campaign, Donor Sabbath spans three days each year, where different religions throughout the US come together to remember and memorialize people who have donated their organs to help others. That’s the key motivation for this significant change.

Organs available will be the same as the “opt-in” method – including kidneys, heart, liver, lungs and pancreas – and would go anywhere in the UK.

According to Welsh, eligible people are those who are 18 years of age and over and those who have lived in Wales for at least one year.

BHF chief executive Simon Gillespie said:”Sadly hundreds of people die every year waiting for a transplant because there is a desperate shortage of organ donors”, he added.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, said he is yet to be convinced that switching to an opt-out organ donation system will deliver the “sea change” in donation rates the Welsh Government promised. While some patients will receive a left ventricular assist device as a destination treatment, some patients with advanced heart failure will receive a ventricular assist support device to serve as a “bridge” to transplant, enabling them to be more mobile – and thus healthier and stronger – by the time a matching donor heart becomes available. “Tell them you want to be an organ donor and record your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register”.

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, also reportedly expressed fears that the scheme could turn “volunteers into conscripts”.

Several faith groups – including leading Welsh Christian, Jewish and Muslim clerics – signed an open letter expressing their unease about the plan.

Seven Qatari organ transplant recipients who chose to have their transplant surgery in Qatar rather than going overseas during 2015 were also honored. It is calling for people to make a positive decision by opting in and telling their families so there can be no doubt.

“It is love in action and a wonderful example of what it can mean to love our neighbours, especially those in need”.