There are 6,408 people awaiting an organ transplant as of March 2017. 5,002 of those need kidneys, 494 need a liver and 166 of them are children. They are real people; not just annual stats of those whose fate has been long decided. They are living, breathing, dying and in desperate need.
The UK has an organ deficit we could do so much more to tackle. We aren’t willing to because of silence, squeamishness and selfishness. We need to discuss why organ donation in the UK isn’t opt-out.
Opt-in, Opt-out
Organ donation boils down to two options: everyone’s a donor unless they opt out or no one’s a donor until they opt in. England, Scotland and Northern Ireland operate as the latter.
Wales is noticeably absent from that list. Our neighbours made big news a year ago by becoming a “soft” opt-out country. This means that everyone over 18 must register their preference to be in or out. Anyone that doesn’t will automatically be considered in.
The British Medical Association is campaigning for this system in the UK. A Feb 2017 survey found that two-thirds supported a “soft opt-out” policy yet only a third register to be donors.
BMA ethics chair Dr John Chisholm says “These figures show that in the current system, a large number of people who wish to donate their organs are not signing up to the register. Vital opportunities to save people’s lives are being missed.”
It’s not just the UK that is split between opt-in and opt-out. The division is replicated across all continents, with very little geographical relation. Austria is opt-out, while neighbour Germany is opt-in. Their westerly neighbour France introduced opt-out policy in January 2017, while we have a mix.
The Only Facts You Need
Let’s take Austria and Germany as example: two countries with a host of similarities except in organ donation. In Germany the rate of consent for organ donation is only 12%. What’s Austria’s? 99.98%. It’s a black and white contrast that’s condemning Germans to die.
France and Wales recent changes offer tantalising glimpses into what the UK could achieve. Dr Chisolm says that “Since soft opt-out was adopted in Wales, 160 organs have been transplanted, almost a quarter of which were down to the new system.”
There’s a similar improvement in France, but on a much grander scale. Since the new policy came in, 150,000 people signed up to opt-out. Sounds a lot, until you realise that about 66m people live in France. Suddenly the number of potential life-saving donors has exploded, all due to the opt-out system.
The UK
Countries with opt-out policies have an average donation rate of over 90%. The stats are overwhelming but they weren’t enough to sway MPs debating the matter in 2008.
Rather than opt-out, the government decided to increasing awareness and the number of staff trained in the donation process. Both positive steps but we still aren’t hitting targets.
90% of people support organ transplants in the UK. Now remember only a third register to donate. Essentially, we’re for it when it’s our lives on the line, otherwise we’d rather every last bit of us died at once. It’s time we got over this view: we’re better than that.
Changing legislation on this isn’t easy: it’s a hugely controversial subject. You think Brexit broke households, wait till you discuss who’d accept organs while refusing to donate themselves. It really livens up a family get together.
We need to discuss divisive subjects, especially any relating to death.
Surprising Alternatives
Some countries have taken organ donation to a whole new level. Israel introduced opt-out with a twist; register to be an organ donor and you’ll get preference over non-donors for transplants. That’s the same highly religious Israel in the “conservative” Middle East: not even religion supports keeping your organs post-mortem anymore.
Before this bill, Israel’s donor numbers were down. The so-called “don’t give, don’t get” policy arrived and people were suddenly incredibly interested in altruism. Of course there’s a huge amount of policing and research involved in prioritising people – it’s not an EasyJet flight – but it’s motivated people like never before.
Then we come to Iran: believe it or not, the only country in the world to not have a kidney transplant waiting list. They managed to clear the backlog of those awaiting transplant and now keep it at zero. How? By paying live people to donate bits they can live without.
That, my friends, is fucking controversial.
It’s Your Turn
Writing and reading this makes no difference if you don’t do something. Writing this made me go onto my family group chat and told them I was an organ donor. It took all of nine seconds.
It also prompted my relatives to do the same. In just five minutes my entire family was aware of each other’s wishes and were better equipped to deal with such a devastating scenario.
That conversation, above all, is so important. Families can overturn a registered donor’s desire if they disagree with it. Others live for the rest of their lives never knowing if they made the right call, simply because they never asked. Taking this decision out of your grieving family’s hands is the kindest thing you can do. No one should be forced to make that call.
Londoner Lloyd Dalton-Brown knew his sister Lucy wanted to donate her organs. When she was hit by a truck, there was no hesitation or decision on his part. Lloyd says “It is something positive for your loved one’s to hold on to, which I personally do after my sister donated.” Lucy saved five people in death.
Give and Get
It’s time to think about what organ donation really means for you. Organ donation is a demanding moral duty but it’s also a privilege. Someone is letting you live on inside them long after the rest of you is gone. It’s a far better fate than being turned to ash or buried in a box. Sure it’s strange, unsettling and sad but it’s also a new beginning for your body and let’s face it – most Londoners owe that to their livers.
Please take two minutes and register to become an organ donor here.
The post Why Isn’t Organ Donation in the UK Opt-Out? appeared first on Felix Magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment