The father of a four-year-old boy who needs a life-saving heart transplant says “now is the time” to reform organ donation laws in Northern Ireland as he faces a “race against time”.
Marking the first anniversary of the soft opt-out system for organ donation becoming law in the UK, Martin Mac Gavan, from west Belfast, said: “For the benefit of all those waiting for the gift of life.” He said the same law needs to be introduced in the north. .
Max and Keira’s Law in the UK means that if you do not want to be a donor you must opt out and consent is presumed.
Scotland moved to a soft opt-out system in March, and Wales became the first UK country to implement the law in 2015.
Northern Ireland is the only region without a soft opt-out system.
Public consultations for public opinion concluded in February, and the Department of Health is analyzing the responses before introducing the bill to Stormont Parliament.
Statistics show around 115 people in Northern Ireland are waiting for an organ transplant, 16 of whom need a new heart.
Mac Gavan and his partner Sef Nyan Mairin are campaigning for Donate4Déith, which is lobbying politicians to overhaul current laws after their son Déith was given only a 10 per cent chance of survival at birth. ” campaign was launched.
He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. In other words, it only has a half-functioning heart. He had been waiting for a new heart for almost three years.
Last weekend, the family flew to the UK for an appointment with Mr Dyce’s consultants.
“Dice has just returned from the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and although he is stable, we were very concerned to hear from our consultants that the coronavirus pandemic has halted a significant portion of transplant activity,” he said. said.
“We are very grateful that Dice remains stable, but we are scared to hear that there hasn’t been much transplant activity lately.
“We believe that the legal reforms here will help normalize the conversation around organ donation, increasing understanding of organ donation, increasing consent rates and reducing waiting times. Now is the time to do so. If the time is right and legislation is not passed, it will be disastrous for our campaign if we follow this mandate.
“We have spent a great deal of time uniting politicians and political parties on this issue, and we have garnered tremendous support. Opt-out organ donation must become a reality.”
He added: “While we are very proud of the role we have played in getting to this point, we are not there yet and although we are moving in the right direction, we are taking some time off. It’s a game,” he added.
Feargal McKinney, from the British Heart Foundation NI, said: “We must keep this pace up to bring about legislative change.”
“The UK is marking one year since the implementation of Max and Keira’s Law, which provides patients with much-needed hope of finding a donor before it is too late. We need that hope for patients in Northern Ireland too. “There is,” he said.
“Health Minister Robin Swann is a big supporter of legislative change here and we look forward to him taking the consultation responses and bringing legislation to Parliament as soon as possible.
“This is too important and we must not lose momentum to make this change. We have an incredible opportunity here to change the lives of people on the transplant waiting list. has seen the change it has brought to Wales: “Family consent increased by almost 50% in the first two years after the change to the opt-out system. I can not do it.”
