§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has made an assessment of the availability of kidneys for transplant since the passing of legislation of seat belts.
33W
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe following table shows the number of cadaver kidney transplants notified in the
2 Feb-6 July 1981 1 Feb-5 July 1982 30 Aug 1982–30 Jan 1983 31 Jan-4 July 1983 Total cadaver kidney transplants notified 381 478 431 502 Weekly average 17.3 21.7 19.6 22.8 Range: highest week/lowest week 29/8 33/9 36/6 38/10 It is still too early to assess the long-term impact of the legislation. It is also almost impossible to distinguish any effects of the legislation in reducing the supply from our continuing attempts to increase the supply of cadaver kidneys. As the seatbelt laws seem likely to reduce unnecessary deaths of healthy people, it becomes ever more important to improve our procedures and our campaigning to increase the supply of kidneys.