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.