Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Plaid Cymru AM defends presumed consent plans for organ donation

Plaid Cymru AM, Rhodri Glyn Thomas, has strongly defended the presumed consent system for organ donation in the face of criticism of the plans by the Archbishop of Wales. Mr Thomas said that the presumed consent system will lead to a great number of lives being saved in Wales.

Plaid Cymru AM, Rhodri Glyn Thomas, said:

“Moving to a presumed consent system for organ donation is something that needs to happen if we are serious about saving the lives of people waiting for a transplant. It is estimated that one person in Wales dies every week while waiting for a kidney, in my mind it would be wrong not to take action to improve that. More and more people are waiting for transplants every year and as things stand too many people are dying while on the waiting list

“We know from studies and first hand experience that there are a lot of people who would like to be organ donors but who are not registered to do so. Moving to an opt-out system will ensure that the number of people who donate increases and a number of lives are no longer needlessly lost. The system doesn’t take the right of the individual to decide – if a person does not want to donate their organs they can simply opt out.

“In the 22 countries around the globe that currently operate a system of presumed consent the evidence shows that donor rates are around 25 to 35% higher than in Wales.

“Far too many families in Wales are watching a brother, sister, mother or father waiting for a life-saving transplant, when the answer is staring us in the face. We need more organ donors, and presumed consent is proven to work.”

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