NKF LettersNKF
3 March 2010
Miroslav Mikolasik, Anna Rouillard
And others as circulated
Sir/Madam
The UK National Kidney Federation is a Kidney Patient Charity that supports and represents 45,000 patients who suffer end stage renal failure. In each case, their Kidneys do not function, and they face the remainder of their lives on Dialysis, unless they can be transplanted with another Kidney.
Sadly there is always a shortage of available organs to transplant causing many (3,000) of our patients to die whilst waiting each and every year. The waiting list for a kidney in the UK is greater than 7,000, and only 3,000 kidneys are transplanted each year. Of the 3,000 kidneys that are transplanted, 2,000 come from deceased (dead) donors and 1,000 come from living donors.
The UK system for Living Donation is well regulated and absolutely no money ever changes hands, neither is there any coercion put on a person to become a living donor. The UK system is a system that relies on family members, spouses and friends to give “The Gift of Life” to a loved one out of love and friendship in order to save a life. This system is so successful and well thought of that sometimes strangers also offer to help when a patient is in dire need. These altruistic acts are well policed to ensure that they are completely altruistic – money does not change hands.
When a friend, relative or spouse wishes to donate a living Kidney but are not a suitable blood or tissue type match, the UK regulated system will look for another donor that is suitable. They are able to do this because of recent legislation that allows paired, pooled and altruistic donation in the UK.
The National Kidney Federation understands that amendments have been tabled to the directive that would make Living Donation “an operation of last resort” and would ban Altruistic, paired and pooled donation altogether.
If this were to come into force then 1,000 life saving operations could not take place, and the UK would fall back to only 2,000 Kidney Transplant operations a year. It would be a devastating blow to all 45,000 Kidney Patients and would increase the desperation that forces dying people to travel to India and other places for illegal and unsafe operations. Rather than ensuring that there was not a trade in organs, this proposal would actually increase this illegal and abhorrent trade in human misery.
The National Kidney Federation wants to rid the world of the trade in human organs, but it believes that the best way to do this is to increase the likelihood of receiving an organ through a well governed, supervised and regulated legal system where organs cannot be purchased or sold. Living Donation is a wonderful thing. It saves lives. It enables friends, relatives and spouses to save the life of the one they love. It enables more and more people to get the transplant they so desperately need, and it reduces the waiting list for organs at a time when cadaveric organs (organs from dead people) are not keeping pace with the growth in patient numbers.
The National Kidney Federation asks that the Directive and its amendments recognizes Living Donation as a good life saving procedure, and that it replaces current harmful proposals and suggestions with wording that enables living donation to be carried out within a well regulated framework.
Thank you
Timothy F Statham OBE
Chief Executive
National Kidney Federation
The National Kidney Federation cannot accept responsibility for the views expressed by others in these letters pages.
The National Kidney Federation is registered in England and Wales as a Company limited by guarantee (Company No 5272349) and awarded charitable status (Charity Number 1106735). Give as You Earn contributions No. CAF GY511.
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Page created: 3 March 2010
Last updated: 27 February 2011