15/7/2008Organ donation bandwagon rolls into Coatbridge
Kind-hearted locals urged to sign up to save a life - The people of Coatbridge will have the chance to become heroes next week when a special recruitment team come to town to encourage locals to join the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). As part of the Scottish Government`s National Transplant Week activities, the team will visit the Coatbridge ASDA on Friday (18th July) and ask shoppers to consider signing up to the ODR and maybe one day saving a life. Recent research has shown that there is huge support for organ donation in Scotland with over 90% of the adult population saying they`re in favour of the concept. However, despite this enormous theoretical support, only 27% of Scots have actually joined the Organ Donor Register. Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, said: "We need to tackle the growing shortage of organs for transplantation. While we know there is great support for organ donation in Scotland, we also know the majority of people haven`t yet signed up to the Register. We`re hoping that as many Coatbridge people as possible will take the time to come along to the roadshows so they can join the Organ Donor Register, and make their wishes count. It`s also very important that people who do sign up let their family and friends know what their wishes are." Over 700 people in Scotland are currently waiting for a potentially life saving transplant - around 50 people a year die waiting. Anyone unable to make it along to ASDA Coatbridge on Friday can easily join the Organ Donor Register by calling 0845 60 60 400 or logging on to www.infoscotland.com/organdonor.