5:39pm Friday 10th July 2009
By David Watkinson
THE North West is one of the worst places in the country for organ donors, new figures have revealed.
At the start of National Transplant Week, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has published a map showing the percentage of the UK population who have signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).
The regionalised map puts the North West near the bottom of the league, with just 24per cent of people registered to donate organs and tissue after their death.
That compares with 32per cent in Scotland and south west England.
Local campaigner Parveen Awan, who runs a local Kidney Support Group, based in Blackburn, said organ transplants had transformed her 23-year-old son Faizan’s life.
She is urging more people from ethnic minorities to sign up to the register.
And Colne mum Julie Patefield, who died last month, inspired people across the region to volunteer as potential bone marrow donors.
The national average of ODR membership is now 27per cent, but the UK’s lowest sign-up rate is 22per cent in London and the West Midlands.
Sally Johnson, director at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Whilst 90per cent of people say they support organ donation, just 27per cent have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register.
“If we are to meet the growing need for organs across the UK we really need more people to sign up as organ donors.
“Our job at NHSBT is to make sure that people know how to join and the difference they can make to the lives of others by signing up.”
Mrs Awan added: “I’m really excited and encouraged by the new campaigns by the Organ Donation Campaign to promote donation because I’ve seen how it can change lives.
“Bringing up a child with kidney disease is a continual uphill struggle and is something I would not wish any other parent to have to go through.”
There are currently 7,986 people in the UK on the “active” waiting list for an organ transplant, and last year 3,513 organ transplants were carried out in the UK, thanks to the generosity of 1,854 deceased and living donors – the highest on record.
Anyone can sign up as an organ donor. NHSBT encourages people to talk to their families about organ donation, so that their wishes are known and can be respected.
For more information, or to sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register, call the donor helpline on 0300 123 23 23, or visit www.organdonation.nhs uk
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