Change to English law in May 2020 for organ donation
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
From May 2020 the much talked about change in the law in England is expected to come into force on organ donation.
As many people know, there is a huge shortage of organs available for donation and this of course includes kidneys for transplantation. From May 20th, 2020 in England the law is 'expected' to change and the presumption will be that all adults in England will be considered as having agreed to donate their own organs when they die, unless they have specifically stated they do not want to be a donor 'and the presumption will be that people have decided to "opt-in" from "opt-out" as is current. It is important to underline that peopel will still be able to state they do not wish this to happen upon their death.
Anthony Clarkson, director of organ donation and transplantation for NHSBT, said: "We hope that the new law encourages more people to record their donation decision and talk about organ donation with their families.
So this should help save many more lives but it is of course a subject that is difficult for many people to explore for different reasons.
Altrusitic donation (a kidney given by another living person as a gift) is a great way to help of course. It is amasing that complete strangers offer to donate a kidney to someone (remember we only need one good functioning kidney to live). However to do such requires a thorough process to see if it is appropriate and many people may not be well enough even if they would love to do such.