Organ donation campaign kick-starts countdown to December 1, 2015
24 Jun 2014 12:48 PM
The first in a series of public information
television, radio and digital adverts about the new organ donation legislation
in Wales will be broadcast from Monday 23 June.
The
television adverts will be aired during episodes of ITV Wales’ Coronation
Street and S4C’s Pobol y Cwm. They will continue across radio, television
and social media in the run up to national transplant week (7-13
July).
The
inspiration for the adverts, which kick-start the next phase of the Welsh
Government’s It’s Time to Talk campaign, is the fact 36 people died
in Wales last year while waiting for a suitable donor organ to become
available.
The
first advert features a digital countdown clock and four fictional individuals
– a mother, young boy, a lady in her 50s and a young man. The countdown
depicts the agonising wait individuals often face hoping for a transplant while
also reinforcing time ticking away for those in need of an organ to
survive.
A
second advert, which will be broadcast closer to national transplant week, is a
straight forward call for people watching at home to start a conversation with
their loved ones about whether or not they want to be organ donor, and the
options available to them from December 1, 2015 when the law changes in
Wales.
The
launch of the latest phase of the advertising campaign is supported by new
social media channels and a Facebook app dedicated to organ donation in
Wales.
The
bilingual twitter account, @OrgDonationCYM, and the organ donation Wales
Facebook page will provide the latest information about the soft opt-out
legislation. Both will be updated daily and will act as forums for questions
about the forthcoming change in Wales while also providing facts about organ
donation in general.
The
Facebook app, which is free to download, has been designed with choice in mind
and is prompted by a mixture of fun and serious “would you
rather” examples from daily life.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford said,
“These prime-time television and radio adverts are
a very important element of the campaign going forward. The use of the
countdown clock is an effective means of highlighting the urgent need for more
organ donors each and every single day as a means of saving
lives.
“I welcome the launch of a permanent presence for
organ donation on Twitter and Facebook as more and more of us in Wales are
embracing social media – this will enable the campaign to reach out and
provide a public forum for sharing details on the legislation and facts about
organ donation in general.
“I hope the adverts will also prompt those
watching at home to talk with their loved ones about their organ donation
wishes as we prepare for December 2015 and the introduction of this landmark
law in Wales.”
This new wave of publicity is part of the wider
communications campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the new organ
donation legislation, which will come into force in Wales on December 1,
2015.
The
move to deemed consent in Wales is designed to increase in the number of
potential organ donorsand ultimately increase the number of organs available
for transplant.
Under the new system, a person will become a donor
either by registering a decision to opt in – as they do currently –
or by doing nothing at all, in which case their consent may be
deemed.
By
doing nothing it will be as if you have no objection to being a donor and an
individual will be treated in the same way as if they had chosen to be a donor.
If an individual doesn’t want to be a donor they can register a decision
to opt out.
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