This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Launch of organ donation campaign
16/02/2004
A national organ donation advertising campaign, aimed at
encouraging people to talk to their families and loved ones
about their wishes, was launched today.
The campaign Organ Donation, Have You Talked About It?
consists of radio, newspaper and milk carton advertising and
implements a key recommendation of the Scottish Transplant's
Group's Organ Donation Strategy for Scotland.
It aims to encourage people, not just to carry an organ
donation card or put their name on the NHS Organ Donor
Register, but to talk to their loved ones to make sure they are
aware of their wishes.
Information leaflets containing donor cards will also be
available in pharmacies, health centres and dental
surgeries.
Speaking at the launch, while on a visit to the renal unit
at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, Health Minister Malcolm
Chisholm said:
"We know that 90 per cent of the population support organ
donation. We also know that across the UK, some 50 per cent of
relatives now refuse to agree that organ donation should go
ahead. But where families are told their loved one wanted to
be an organ donor, they accept in almost every case that organs
should be retrieved.
"That is why the main message of the campaign is encouraging
people to discuss their wishes with their loved ones. It is
essential to get the message across that, as well as carrying
an organ donor card or being on the NHS Organ Donor Register,
people should talk about their wishes with their loved ones.
It's much better if that conversation takes place quietly in a
familiar setting, rather than without any preparation in the
first anguish of bereavement.
"Transplants save and enhance lives. Donor families can
gain comfort from knowing that, although their loved one is no
longer with them, someone, somewhere, has been given the chance
to live."
Lesley Kelly, West of Scotland Renal Transplant
Co-ordinator, who has spearheaded the campaign which has
resulted in 30 per cent of the population of Greater Glasgow
joining the Organ Donation Register, said:
"Raising the profile of organ donation is very challenging
because this is not a subject that people really want to think
about. I speak to patients on the transplant waiting list and
they tell me raising awareness about organ donation gives them
hope that their turn will come. Families have found that
talking about organ donation and transplantation amongst them
meant they were then very clear about each other's wishes."
Laura Buist, Director of Renal Transplant at North Glasgow
Hospital Trust, said:
"Last year, the West of Scotland was one of the few areas in
the United Kingdom to maintain its level of organ donation and
we are proud to acknowledge the generosity of the families of
the donors.
"In a crisis or a period of uncertainty, such as being told
the death of a loved one, it is often easier to say no when
asked about organ donation, than to agree because we don't know
the person's own wishes. I would ask that all the people of
Scotland think about organ donation and that all of us discuss
it with our families."
The organ donation campaign comes against a background of a
severe shortage of donor's organs. At the end of 2003, there
were 450 people in Scotland on the waiting list for a
transplant, 418 of whom were waiting for a kidney. Some 40
people die each year while waiting for a new organ.
To address the shortage of donors the Scottish Executive
published an
organ donation strategy in July 2002.