Talk about giving the gift of life
ORGAN transplants will very likely rise once the States, as it can be assumed it will, finally approves a new opt-out organ transplant law later this year.
The Assembly has already agreed to move to an opt-out model, rather than the current opt-in version, and from January next year, unless an islander has formally registered that they do not want to donate their organs, deemed consent will apply – a legal presumption in favour of organ donation.
One individual could save the lives of up to nine people, and although Health & Social Care expect the new law to be well supported, it also hopes that the law change will spark more discussions within families about organ donation. Families will always have the final say.
The change follows similar moves in England, Wales and Scotland, and in Jersey, which adopted the system in 2019, before England followed a year later.
Wales was the first country in the UK to move away from the opt-in system back in 2015, and quickly concerns that it would decrease procurement rates for living and deceased donation, and spark an increase in family refusals, were quashed. Wales actually saw more registered donors, fewer family refusals and more living donations.
It is almost certain the move will also prove to be a success locally, in terms of the number of organs donated, lives saved, and simply in family conversations on the subject.