UK PM eyes Spain organ donor rate

14 January 2008

MADRID – Gordon Brown wants to adopt an organ donation system like that of Spain, the British prime minister wrote in an article published yesterday in the Sunday Telegraph.

"In terms of actual donors… we have a rate of about 13 donors per million in our population. This compares with about 22 per million in France, 25 per million in America and around 35 per million in Spain – the best in the world," Brown wrote in an article on the need to revamp the National Health Service.

Britain has a national organ donor register, whereas in Spain anyone is considered a potential donor unless they or their family expressly reject it in writing. The National Transplant Organisation says the family is always asked for permission. In the article, Brown argued that a "consent system, more like the one used in Spain" could increase UK donation levels.

Subject: Spanish news