84% in Ceredigion back new organ donation law

An opinion poll has found that 84% of residents in Ceredigion back presumed consent for organ donation, the highest percentage in Wales. 

The Welsh Government is planning to introduce a law to change the way organs are donated. If passed, the new law would presume people in Wales want to donate their organs when they die, unless they choose to opt out by taking their names off the register. The poll, conducted by ICM for BBC Wales, showed that overall support  for the law in Wales was 63%. 

Ceredigion's Assembly Member Elin Jones, says about the poll: 

“I welcome this show of support for a system of presumed consent for organ donation. It’s no surprise that the Welsh Government’s own consultation on the issue encountered strong support for a ‘soft opt out’ system.

“More and more people are waiting for transplants every year and as things stand too many people are dying while on the waiting list and it would be wrong not to act.

“Under the current system there are large numbers of people who would like to be organ donors but are not actually registered. Moving to an opt-out system will ensure that the number of people who donate increases and a number of lives are no longer needlessly lost. The system doesn’t take the right of the individual to decide – if a person does not want to donate their organs they can simply opt out."

Another question in the poll showed that 69% of people in Ceredigion back the new 5p charge on plastic bags, the seventh highest in Wales, with overall support at 64%.

Interestingly, both polls showed that Welsh speakers were more likely to support the measures than non-Welsh speakers.