Between 2017 and 2018, a record number of people in the UK (1,575 in total) donated their organs after death and more than 5,000 life-saving or life-improving transplants took place. NHS Blood and TransplantThe number of deceased donors in the UK continues to grow. Figures for 2017-18 were: 11% increase That's an increase from the previous year, and the number of donors has increased by about 20% since 2013-2014.
These figures are encouraging. 50,000 people In the UK, he received an organ transplant and is still alive today. 457 people died From 2016 to 2017, the number of patients waiting for transplants 6,000 patients I remain on the transplant waiting list.
In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, there is an opt-in system for organ donation consent: people who wish to donate give their consent by actively signing up to the organ donor register. However, in Wales: Opt-out system December 2015 and after ( England and Scotland Adults in Wales are considered to be consenting organ donors unless they explicitly register that they refuse organ donation, but they are considered to have consented to organ donation unless they explicitly register that they refuse organ donation. Express consent).
Despite these policy differences, family refusal remains one of the biggest barriers to organ donation. National laws require (including Wales) that after the death of a loved one, family consent must first be obtained before organs can be taken for transplantation, regardless of the deceased's wishes. Consent is obtained in two-thirds of cases, but Increased to over 90% If the deceased was registered as a donor.
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Donations and locations
At the time of writing, More than one third 24.9 million people in the UK are on the NHS organ donor register, indicating their intention to donate their organs after death. However, Recent figures Different regions of the UK show different levels of registration, with the number of registered donors being lower in England (35% of the population) than in Wales (38%), Northern Ireland (40%) and Scotland (44%).
Among health authorities in England, there are more donors in the South (42%) than in the North (34%), the Midlands East (34%) and London (29%). Similar disparities exist in Local Government in WalesIt is currently unclear whether these figures represent the geographic distribution of potential donors, but given the strong relationship between registered donor status and family consent to donation, these figures certainly merit further investigation.
Studies in the United States have already identified regional differences that correspond to different levels of organ donor registration. In one studyFor example, higher income areas have been found to have more people registered as organ donors, but until recently there had been no research in the UK linking location factors to organ donation rates.
Among Us Recently published analyses We investigated regional patterns of organ donation registration and found notable differences in organ donation registration rates across communities in Wales in the five years before Wales moved to an opt-out system. The proportion of new registrations between the ages of 16 and 70 ranged from as low as 6% of the population in some communities to as high as 24% in others. During this period, new registration rates were generally higher in and around major urban areas in south-east and north-east Wales, and lower in valley communities in south Wales.
Examining the geographic distribution of registered donors will undoubtedly raise questions about whether these differences are due to differences in people or differences in place – and rightly so – but a better understanding of the potential geographic distribution of registered donors could be of great benefit to policymakers and practitioners across all UK countries, and particularly those in the regions where they work.
For now, the UK's organ donation rates still lag somewhat behind those of high-achieving countries such as Spain. 46.9 donors per million people Compared to 2017 23 donors per million people Between 2017 and 2018, the number of people registering their intention to not donate organs in the UK increased by more than one million. Half a million.
Tracking local trends provides vital information to help identify areas where fewer people are choosing to donate their organs, or where more people will choose not to donate in the future (or in Wales now). This information can play a key role in helping certain groups and communities understand the importance of organ donation and ultimately save lives.
