LAUNCH OF UK CHALLENGE TO INCREASE ORGAN DONATION

~Lifesavers needed as ten years of Organ Donor Register are celebrated with spectacular "body build"in Trafalgar Square~
 
A UK-wide challenge is being launched today to add one million more "lifesavers" to the NHS Organ Donor Register during the next 12 months, bringing hope to thousands.

While a record 2,867 life-giving transplants took place last year, tragically 443 people died while waiting due to the critical shortage of donors.

Students, NHS staff and families of organ donors and recipients from around the UK will converge on London 's Trafalgar Square to create a colourful spectacle to start the challenge.

Six hundred people wearing red, blue and white bodysuits in the distinctive organ donation campaign colours will be choreographed to form the number ten in a large red heart to signify the 10th anniversary of the NHS Organ Donor Register and then rearrange to create the figure 1,000,000, setting the UK-wide challenge.

Each year almost 3,000 people are given a new lease of life through an organ transplant, due to the generosity of donors and their families. But with more than 7,000 people in the UK needing a transplant to save, or dramatically improve their lives, there is an urgent need for more donors.

Sue Sutherland, UK Transplant Chief Executive, said: "In this 10th anniversary year, we want to encourage an extra one million people to think about organ donation, talk about it and sign up.

"The gift of life is the most precious we can give. Transplants save and transform lives, and bereaved families have told us they gain comfort from knowing that their loss has helped someone else to live. But it can be extraordinarily difficult for relatives to make a decision about donation if they are unsure of their loved one's wishes.

"We know that nine out ten people support organ donation in principle but that only two out of ten have got around to recording their wishes on the Register.

"We'd also appeal to anyone just carrying a donor card to take this opportunity to sign up too - cards can easily get lost which means your good intentions may not be put into practice. The more people who join the register, the more people stand to benefit in the future."

The Organ Donor Register (ODR), a confidential, computerised database, was launched in 1994 following a successful campaign by the Cox family, from the West Midlands .

Twenty-four-year-old Peter Cox had discussed with his family his wish to donate his organs before his untimely death from a brain tumour. But although patients waiting for a transplant were listed on a central NHS computer, the Coxes found there was no equivalent register for potential donors.

With the help of their daughter Christine, the family gained the government's attention, and following extensive consultation and co-ordination the register was launched on October 6, 1994.

Sue Sutherland added: "Joining the NHS Organ Donor Register sends out a huge message of support to the thousands of people whose lives depend on the generosity of others.

"We would like to say a big thank you to the 11.6 million who have already pledged their wishes by joining the Register, and encourage everyone else to consider joining them."

Anyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by telephoning the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or by visiting www.uktransplant.org.uk





Contact Justin McKeown (0771 554 5973) or Paul Thomas (0797 425 1032) for further information.
Email justin@sinclairmason.com or pault@sinclairmason.com
UK Transplant press office is also available on 0117 975 7475 or 975 7477.

NOTES TO EDITORS :
1. For the full history of the NHS Organ Donor Register, go to:
www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/newsroom/fact_sheets/nhs_organ_donor_register_a_history.jsp

2. It would be extremely helpful if you could publish/announce the phone number for the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 and/or the URL
www.uktransplant.org.uk (please ensure ' uk ' appears at the end of the address!).

DID YOU KNOW?

·         The highest number of transplants on record - 2,867 - took place last year
·         You are more likely to need a transplant than become a donor
·         One donor can give their kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, small bowel and corneas, plus other tissue including skin, bone and heart valves
·         You can only donate organs if you die in hospital but almost everyone could donate tissue, such as corneas, as this can be given up to 24 hours after death
·         The Government has pledged to increase the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register to 16 million by 2010
·         The ODR is used after a person has died to help establish whether they wanted to donate and, if so, which organs. It is available to authorised NHS staff 24 hours a  day, 365 days a year

UK Transplant's role includes:

·         managing the National Transplant Database which includes details of all donors and patients who are waiting for, or who have received a transplant
·         providing a 24-hour service for the matching and allocation of donated organs and making the transport arrangements to get the organs to patients
·         maintaining the NHS Organ Donor Register
·         improving organ donation rates by funding initiatives in the wider NHS - UK Transplant has invested almost £6m during the past three years in hospital-based   schemes, including living kidney donor programmes, the recruitment of additional donor transplant co-ordinators, donor liaison staff and non-heartbeating programmes
·         providing central support to all transplant units in the UK and Republic of Ireland
·         auditing and analysing the results of all organ transplants in the UK and Republic of Ireland to improve patient care
·         raising public awareness of the importance of organ donation.

ABOUT TRANSPLANTS

Transplants are one of the most miraculous achievements of modern medicine.

They involve the donation of organs from one person to another and enable almost 3,000 people to take on a new lease of life in the UK every year.

Transplants are the best possible treatment for most people with organ failure.

Kidney transplants are the most commonly performed. Transplants of the heart, liver and lungs are also regularly carried out. As medicine advances, other vital organs including the pancreas and small bowel are also being used in transplants. Tissue such as corneas, heart valves, skin and bone can also be donated.

The increasing effectiveness of transplantation means that many more patients can be considered for treatment in this way. But there is a serious shortage of donors.

For some people this means waiting, some time for years, and undergoing difficult and stressful treatment. For all too many it means they will die before a suitable organ becomes available.

UK Transplant is committed to saving or dramatically improving many more lives by increasing the number of organs available for donation.

Nicole Sutherland
Administrative Assistant - Communications
UK Transplant
Tel: (0117) 975 7490
Fax: (0117) 975 7515
E-Mail: Nicole.Sutherland@uktransplant.nhs.uk
Web: www.uktransplant.org.uk