More sign up to donate their organs on the NHS register - WalesOnline

More sign up to donate their organs on the NHS register - WalesOnline

Aug 4 2008 by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

MORE than 11,000 people have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register in the wake of the first all-Wales organ donation campaign.

In the two months since the Donate Wales – Tell a Loved One campaign was launched in mid May, the number of people in Wales who have registered now stands at 791,543.

But the number of people waiting for an organ transplant in Wales have also increased – the figure now stands at 490, a 61% increase since 2001. The majority of people on the list are waiting for a new kidney.

And in the last five years 150 people from Wales have died while waiting for an organ transplant.

The Donate Wales campaign, which is led by the Kidney Wales Foundation, is the first of its kind in Wales and is designed to raise awareness about organ donation and encourage people to talk about their wishes with their families.