NKF Campaigns Zone:
Transplantation & Live Donors

MILLIONS ASKED TO VOTE FOR LIFE

Dozens of local authorities across the UK are giving their residents the chance to “vote for life” when they receive their annual electoral registration forms.

Councils from Scotland to Cornwall are to send out NHS organ donor registration forms asking people to sign up as potential donors at the same time they register to vote.

A total of 39 local authorities with a joint population of more than 6 million have agreed to take part in the scheme this autumn.

Several more have volunteered to carry out alternative schemes to help raise awareness of the NHS Organ Donor Register.

It is hoped that the initiative could add an extra 500,000 names to the confidential register between now and the end of the year.

“This campaign is set to provide a tremendous boost to organ donation - and save hundreds more lives,” said UK Transplant Chief Executive Sue Sutherland, who wrote to more than 400 UK councils earlier this year urging them to participate.

“Through the support of the councils taking part, organ donor forms will be delivered direct to the homes of over 6 million people.

“We are very grateful to the councils for their backing - especially one Mayor who wrote back and included completed organ donor forms for himself and his wife.”

The scheme is the brainchild of Councillor John Meikle who piloted the idea with Taunton Deane Borough Council in Somerset in 1999. Since then a total of 26 councils have adopted the scheme, resulting in an extra 250,000 potential donors, and his individual approach continues to bring interest from dozens of councils.

Last year alone nearly 400 people died while waiting for a kidney, heart, liver or lung to be donated. One in ten people waiting for a heart transplant will die and many others will lose their lives before they even get on to the waiting list.

There are currently more than 5,500 people in the UK waiting for a transplant that could save or transform their lives but only about 2,700 transplants are carried out each year. Many more people could be helped - if more organs were donated.

Mrs Sutherland added: “A very important part of deciding to become a donor is sharing your wishes with your close relatives so that they know your feelings if the time ever comes.

“The more people who join the Organ Donor Register, the more people stand to benefit in the future. Signing on to the register sends out a huge message of support to the thousands of people whose lives depend on the generosity of others.”

“Vote for life” could become one of the major sources of registrations to the Organ Donor Register along with the long-established DVLA scheme where all new drivers are sent Organ Donor Registration forms.

The DVLA currently accounts for about one-third of all registrations and 29% come from doctor’s surgeries. Passport applications and other sources bring in another 15%.

A total of 9.5m people have already joined NHS Organ Donor Register. The Government has set a target of enrolling 16m potential donors by 2010.

For further information contact Maxine Walter, UK Transplant Media and Public Relations Manager, on 0117 975 7476, Councillor John Meikle on 01823 328500 or the communications departments of the below participating councils.

Councils taking part in Vote for Life 2002

• Ashford Borough Council
• Brighton & Hove Council
• Broadland District Council (Norfolk)
• Broxtowe Borough Council
• Cambridge City Council
• Cheltenham Borough Council
• Dundee City Council
• East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• Eastbourne Borough Council
• Eastleigh Borough Council
• Gloucester City Council
• Hambleton District Council
• Hastings Borough Council
• Lancaster City Council
• Liverpool City Council
• London Borough of Brent
• London Borough of Redbridge
• Macclesfield Borough Council
• Medway Council
• Monmouthshire County Council
• Newark & Sherwood District Council
• Plymouth City Council
• Portsmouth City Council
• Purbeck District Council
• Restormel Borough Council
• Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
• Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
• Shepway District Council
• South Somerset
• Stockton Borough Council
• Swale Borough Council
• Swindon Borough Council
• Tameside Metro. Borough Council
• Telford and Wrekin Council
• Torfaen County Borough Council
• Weymouth and Portland Council
• Windsor & Maidenhead Borough Council
• Woking Borough Council
• Worthing Borough Council