§ Mrs. McCurleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is in a position to report on the first year of his organs transplant campaign; and what plans he has to ensure the momentum of the campaign is continued.
§ Mr. John PattenIn the 12 months following the launch in February 1984 of our campaign to increase public awareness of the benefits of organ transplantation and to promote the donor card scheme, over 12½ million new donor cards have been issued and the number of kidney transplants performed has risen by 30 per cent. over the previous year. Further publicity to maintain the campaign's momentum has been arranged.
We are continuing to publicise the need for organ donation and it is hope that donor cards will be made available to the public through a number of new outlets this year. The Chief Medical Officer will be writing to the directors of renal transplant units asking them to review their relationships with those hospital departments within their catchment areas which are most likely to have potential organ donors, in order to ensure that no opportunities are lost.