Hundreds of people die each year in England simply because of a lack of organs available for transplant. That’s why the organisation I work for, the British Medical Association (BMA), welcomes the government’s announcement of a “soft” opt-out system, something we have spent 18 years campaigning for. It could save many of those lives.
Our hopes were buoyed by Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative party conference in October. She said that 500 people died waiting for a transplant in 2016 and, to address this, the government would “shift the balance of presumption in favour of organ donation”.
She made the key point that our ability to help those who need transplants is limited by the number of organ donors that come forward.
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The new opt-out system will finally align England with its neighbours: Wales, which implemented an opt-out system in 2015; and Scotland, whose government has committed to bringing forward legislation for such a system.
So why is this change so important? Doctors often see their patients suffering, or even dying, when their lives could be dramatically improved, or saved, by a transplant.
And organs that could have saved lives are wasted because some people simply don’t get around to making their wish to donate known – officially, by signing the organ donor register, or informally, through conversations with friends, family and loved ones.
Popular choice
Two-thirds of the public said they supported extending opt-out for organ donation in a poll commissioned by the BMA. The same poll found only a third of people are signed up to the organ donor register, while two-thirds said they wanted to donate some or all of their organs after death.
An opt-out system makes it more likely that the wishes of the majority in favour of donating organs are respected.
Some people may fear this means the state will feel entitled to an individual’s organs. It won’t, which is where the “soft” opt-out term comes from. People have exactly the same choice as they do now; the only difference is the default position of presumed donation which, over time, will promote a more positive attitude towards organ donation, so that donation is seen as the natural and normal thing to do.
Those who don’t wish to donate can register their objection. An additional safeguard that the BMA wants to see would enable checks with family members to confirm whether an individual who is a donor candidate had an unregistered objection to donating their organs.
Precious gift
Roughly three people, on average, die each day waiting for an organ transplant, so there’s no time to waste and ultimately, that is what this change comes down to – saving lives.
Improvements shouldn’t stop here. Before an opt-out law comes into effect, there must be an extensive awareness campaign to encourage the public to consider their own wishes about donation.
There should also be continuing efforts to improve transplantation infrastructure to make it more effective and as easy as possible for organ donations to take place.
Giving an organ is one of the most precious gifts someone can give – we shouldn’t stand in the way of people who want to make this life-changing decision.
