I was very pleased to hear the recent announcement by the Minister for Health who has launched a 12 week public consultation to find out if a change is needed to the current organ donation consent system. This consultation period will find out if the Welsh Government should move forward and propose a legislative change to the current system. Currently you have to register if you are willing to be an organ donor of course.

This has been an issue I’ve have been campaigning on since my election. There is currently a dire shortage of organs available for transplants; this really is a matter of life and death – in the last year alone 22 people died while waiting for a transplant. When questioned, 90% of people say that they agree with the principle of organ donation, but unfortunately only 27% of people in Wales actually get round to signing up to the organ donor register.

With a new opt out system in place many more lives would be saved and I now look forward to hearing the results of the consultation so that we can move forward with this issue. If you want to take part in the consultaion process you can get more information by clicking the following link: http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/healthsocialcare/organdonation/;jsessionid=MYpwK1KJpDQ1TsmS8Q6Yrf38lmTGV002s2kL7Q7bFg2pPgTFyMf7!1981341735?lang=en