The best gift you will ever give costs nothing
1,000 people on the organ transplant list die each year, but one signature could save up to eight of them. Would you forward your signature? Could you imagine your life taking a turn for the worse and being one of them? It can happen to anyone unexpectedly. If you are one of the unfortunate or someone you love, you could be waiting a couple of days in an emergency, but if that’s not the case, then it can easily turn into months or on average a few years. Within this time, I envision that it will consist of reluctant hospital appointments and, as time goes by, daily life will become more of a struggle as your body gradually begins to weaken and deteriorate before you are told you have a week left to live. Suddenly your loved ones are planning your funeral and grieving. This problem in the UK could easily be abolished by changing the current Opt-In donation system to an Opt-Out system which means every civilian in the UK is presumed to have given their consent for their organs to be donated unless declared otherwise.
Why should we follow in the footsteps of countries such as Spain and Wales with the Opt-Out system? In recent years, within Europe, 24 countries have introduced some form of assumed consent for the Opt-out system. In Scotland alone, 2.2 million people are on the NHS organ donor register which is just under half of the population at 41%. This compares to 33% of the population of the UK. One survey shows 72% of respondents would like to donate their organs and support it, whereas a small minority of 33% are against it. These statistics from the survey show that the majority of citizens support organ donation and would happily donate their organs. This means that if the UK changed to an Opt-Out system, 72% of the population would become donors because they wouldn’t go to the trouble of opting out. The real question is are you not a donor because you can’t be bothered or because you don’t support it? Either way, it is easier for the UK to change to the Opt-Out system as the majority support and would rather donate their organs as they believe “it’s the best thing to do.”
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Another strong argument as to why you should become an organ donor is because 22 people die per day waiting on an endless list and organ donation greatly increases people’s chances of living. In the UK alone, roughly 6,000 people are waiting on a transplant list and, just last year, 400 people died due to a shortage of donors. If one donor saves up to eight lives and can improve up to 50 others in total, that’s 58 lives improved as a result of one individual's thoughtfulness and generosity. So, imagine the drastic impact the Opt-Out system could have and the number of families who wouldn’t have to deal with the grief of losing a loved one, that’s thousands of lives saved per year. It may give grandparents the chance to spoil their grandchildren and watch them grow up before their eyes, parents to watch their kids go from nursery to primary school and then to high school and watch them figure out what they want to grow up to achieve and be, it gives fathers the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle. These are all milestones that can easily be taken away. This is why organ donation is such a crucial and selfless act. So surely anyone intelligent would realize it’s a more sensible and humane choice to leave your organs where they can have such an impacting use on so many lives than being selfish and taking them with you to the grave where they will rot away and be of no use to anyone.
Furthermore, In 2018 data was collected and disappointingly more than 450 relatives of organ donors denied permission to donate useful organs that’s could have been put to good use as they stated they were unsure of their relative's wishes after they passed away, this is unfortunate as the death of one deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives as by donating 2 kidneys, liver, 2 lungs, heart, pancreas and intestines. It's just unfortunate that it's not made clear what people want to do with their organs when they pass as this decision could largely impact someone's life for the better.
Some people also argue that their religion doesn’t support organ donation, but this is not the case. In the UK, all the major religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, and Judaism support organ donation. Only some Orthodox Jews may object to “opting in”, but apart from that, no religion objects to organ donation giving people no reason to use this as an excuse to cover their selfishness and bad judgment on what to do with their organs.
In summation, I believe Scotland and the UK should welcome the Opt-Out system as it significantly reduces death rates on transplant waiting lists and can save and improve thousands upon thousands of lives. I strongly believe there are much more positives than there are negatives and will never understand why some people are so selfish and choose to take their organs to the grave with them where they will be of no use because everyone knows they’re much more needed here on earth.
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