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Donor plea from the Mail

Three months after a Carry the Card organ donor campaign the Hartlepoool Mail is calling for a change in the law.

It wants people to automatically become donors – unless they opt out. That’s the opposite of the way the current system works.

Currently, if a person does not carry a donor card, is not registered on the NHS donation computer, or a close relative refuses permission, their organs cannot be used for transplantation.

The Mail said: “We are taking the crusade an important stage further.

“We are calling for legislation called ‘presumed consent’, which assumes that a dying person had given consent to organ donation unless their objection had been previously registered on a national computer.

“The introduction of this legislation – which would alleviate the chronic shortage of organs and help some of the 5,000 people dying on the waiting list – has widespread backing.

The paper is calling on readers to sign a petition at its offices, which will be presented to the Government to call on ministers to consider the move, which would save thousands of lives a year.

The Mail will also be drawing the campaign to the attention of health minister Alan Milburn and to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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