Two weeks ago, we presented a proposal in the government which turns the model for organ donation on its head. The proposal is for everyone over the age of 18 to be registered as potential organ donors, unless they themselves opt out.
Many have welcomed the proposal. I am very happy that many people agree that as long as there are people who die every year while on the waiting list for a new organ, then we will have to do something more and different than what we currently have done for many years.
Information campaigns with calls to be registered in the Organ Donor Register have contributed to more people deciding on organ donation, and information efforts will continue to be important in the future, but if we are to avoid seriously ill Danes losing their lives on a waiting list, more is needed .
However, not everyone has welcomed the proposal. This is no surprise, because organ donation raises a number of ethical questions, and there must of course be room for us to have different attitudes.
But there have also been reactions based on misunderstandings. It emphasizes that it is important that we have a good and thorough debate, which can make us all smarter regarding each other’s points of view and contribute to clearing misunderstandings out of the way.
One of the misunderstandings is that you are automatically an organ donor and will lose the right to decide over your own body and organs. This is of course not the case. The starting point of the proposal is that you, as an adult Dane, can potentially become an organ donor if you were to be so seriously injured that you will inevitably die.
But – and this is very important – it must of course still be possible to say no thanks to being a donor. Therefore, it is also part of the proposal that you as a citizen must confirm that you are a potential donor in the Organ Donor Register. And if you have not done so, the next of kin will always be asked. So we all retain our self-determination over our own bodies.
At this moment, more than 400 Danes are on the waiting list to receive a new organ. With all that entails of extreme physical and mental strain, while they wait in a mixture of hope and desperation. Last year, 28 seriously ill Danes waited in vain. They were never offered a new organ and lost their lives.
It is unfortunate for them and for their survivors. And that too, a paradox. Because studies show that 8 out of 10 Danes are positive regarding organ donation. Even so, it is only a third of us who have made our position known in the Organ Donor Register. It is my hope that with the proposal we can get more people to take a stand.
Organ donation is the individual’s own choice. It will also be the case in the future. But we have a shared responsibility to ensure that more people get their lives back through organ donation.
2024-02-26 15:26:45
#Minister #donor
