Plans for new ‘opt-out’ system for organ donation

14 January 2008, by Heavens Paradox

I have thought for years that general apathy in the UK causes problems in a number of areas. One such example is organ donation, as you have to ‘opt-in’ in order to donate there are millions of people who aren’t bothered either way who aren’t on the register.

I think the proposal for an automatic organ donation system is a fantastic idea, and should have been introduced years ago. The basic idea seems that the donation register would become an opt-out list, and if your name is not on the list then consent is assumed. This means that anyone who doesn’t wish to donate can request to be added, but the millions of people who aren’t bothered will have consent assumed, greatly enlarging the pool of potential donors. So long as the choice of opt-ing out is available and simple to do then I think this is a great idea and should be implemented as soon as possible.

Categories: Current Affairs, Health & Fitness