§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the National Health Service or any Government agency imports any human organs for transplant work in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe United Kingdom transplant service has reciprocal arrangements for organ exchange with similar organisations in other European countries. It also has an arrangement with the federally recognised organ exchange agency in the United States, the United Network for Organ Sharing, under which cadaveric kidneys surplus to United States requirements may be used to help patients in the United Kingdom.
Imported organs accounted for a very small proportion of the total transplants carried out in the United Kingdom. In the calendar year 1987, the following organs were sent from Europe:
- Kidneys—6
- Livers—4
- Hearts and heart/lungs—13
(These figures exclude reciprocal arrangements with Dublin, which is served by the United Kingdom transplant service as if it were a United Kingdom centre).Imports of kidneys under the arrangements with the United Network for Organ Sharing totalled 29 in the last quarter of 1987.