Black, Asian and Minorities can "Opt-Out" of Organ Donation System

Chairman of Kidney Wales Foundation (KWF), Roy Thomas, said that more minority groups will be saved under an "opt-out" organ donation system.

Black, Asian and minorities were said to be more than three times more likely to need a transplant compared to the rest of the population. However, he added that fewer than 2 percent have signed-up to the NHS Organ Donation Register.

This news comes as a donor expert accused the Welsh government of misleading the assembly over its organ donation bill.

John Fabre, professor of clinical sciences at King's College London, said the policy was misinterpreted based on information from Spain's system.

Prof Fabre, the author of several papers on international systems of organ donation, claimed Spain's high donation rate was as a result of the available facilities and coordination in the Spanish health service.

The Human Transplantation Bill, which could become law by 2015 and would mean adults living in Wales would have to "opt-out" of the organ donation system if they did not want to donate after death.

As for now, it is required that people have to actively "opt-in" to become a donor.

But KWF used the example of Belgium, where only 2 percent of the population opted-out of a presumed consent system and said it proved a "great success" with donor rates increasing by 55 percent in the first five years.

"It is, however, key that the proposed legislation is implemented with the goodwill of the people of Wales," Thomas said.

"A transplant law provides only a legal environment which can influence the extent to which potential donors can be used.

"The law in proper practice will be essential."

A Welsh government spokesman also said the Spanish government's website "points to the adoption of appropriate legislation as one element of the success of their model for organ donation."