On Sunday evening, the UK’s health secretary Matt Hancock appealed for organ donations from young children. Although adult donations have increased by one-fifth since 2004, donations from children “have remained static“. Organs from 57 children resulted in 200 transplants in 2018, almost identical to the 2014 figure, when 55 children donated their organs. According to the National Health Service (NHS), only “half of the families approached after the death of their child gave consent for their organs to be used“.
Speaking to bereaved parents, Matt Hancock said he understood “how difficult it is to consider losing a child, and even more difficult to think about what will happen afterwards. But we must not avoid this subject, which could save lives,” he insisted.
For further reading:
Organ donation: opportunity or expediency?
Instrumentalizing personal stories to increase organ donations?
Accompanying anencephalic children…
Anencephalic newborns donate their kidneys: an ethical issue
Daily mail, (4/03/19) – Health officials ask bereaved parents to donate their children’s organs amid warning over drop in donors