§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage the provision of donor cards in GP surgeries. [116930]
§ Mr. LammyGeneral practitioners are the second highest source of applications of registration on the National Health Service Organ Donor Register and all GPs have access to supplies of the forms via the Organ Donor Line. UK Transplant is currently exploring partnerships with drug companies who can provide free distribution to surgeries through their representatives. In March 2003, all 11,000 GP surgeries in the United Kingdom were supplied with leaflets highlighting issues relevant to the Asian community. Leaflets were supplied in English with examples of versions in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujerati and Hindi available to order.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered with donor cards in each of the last 10 years; and what steps the Government has taken to encourage a greater take-up. [116932]
§ Mr. LammyThe national health service organ donor register was established in 1994. The table shows the number of people that have registered each year. People are encouraged to join the organ donor through a number of initiatives, including when they apply for a driving licence, register with a new general practitioner, apply for a new passport or, where available, complete the organ donor registration form sent out by their local authorities annually when they check the electoral register. Additionally, UK Transplant runs publicity campaigns and targets action to raise the profile of organ donation, including specific advertising and 1077W information campaigns to increase organ donation from the South Asian and black African and Caribbean populations.
(Millions) 1994 0.14 1995 2.21 1996 1.39 1997 0.92 1998 0.87 1999 1.51 2000 1.24 2001 0.74 2002 1.08 Total1 10.10 1at end of 2002