One in three Scots signed up for organ donation

Published on Thursday 8 October 2009 20:51

A THIRD of Scots are now registered to become organ donors.

The statistic was contained in a UK-wide report that found about a million more people have registered to become organ donors in the past year.

Officials welcomed the figures, but said too many people were still dying while waiting for a life-saving transplant.

The UK's Organ Donation Taskforce published a report in January 2008 setting out 14 recommendations to achieve a 50 per cent increase in donations within five years.

Yesterday's report, which details the progress made in the first year of the programme's implementation shows that 32 per cent of Scots are registered to become organ donors.

Responding to the publication, Ms Sturgeon said: "The Scottish Government is investing 5.5 million towards meeting national recommendations made by the UK Organ Donation Taskforce.

"This report shows we are making substantial progress in putting in place the arrangements needed to make organ donation a usual event as part of end-of-life care."

Figures released earlier this year showed the organ donation rate in Scotland has hit a ten-year high. In the year to April, there were 72 donations where families had consented to organs being transplanted after someone had died.

That produced a rate of 14.1 such donations per one million of the population – an increase from 9.8 per million two years before.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The generosity of these donors means that around 500 people have had their lives saved or transformed by a new organ or tissue."