Around 200 People On Transplant List

Around 200 people in Northern are currently on the organ transplant list, according to the Public Health Agency (PHA).

The agency is urging everyone in Northern Ireland to say "I do" when it comes to their organ donation wishes, and tell their family and friends that they want to be a donor.

The call coincides with National Transplant Awareness Week, which runs from 7–13 September, under the theme of 'Seven days to say "Yes I donate"'.

Dr Eddie Rooney, Chief Executive of the PHA and Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee for Organ Donation, said: "In Northern Ireland there are around 200 people waiting for a transplant and approximately 15 people die here each year whilst waiting on one.

"To save more lives we need more donors. To raise the number of people getting life-saving transplants we really need everyone to understand the importance of not being complacent.

"While there have been great improvements in organ donation over recent years in Northern Ireland with 35% of our population signing the Organ Donation Register (ODR), many people don't realise that by not making their donation wishes clear their loved ones will have to make a decision as to whether or not donation should go ahead without prior knowledge of what their loved one wanted.

"Nobody wants to leave their family with such a burden so we want to encourage everyone to make it clear what their wishes are. We need to get to the point where organ donation is high on the list of important conversations we routinely have with loved ones.

"Over the next seven days we'd like everyone to give a few minutes of their time to think about organ donation. If you want to be an organ donor, join the register and tell your family and friends as soon as possible because we know that families are much more likely to agree to donation going ahead if they know it is what their loved one wanted."

(CD/JP)