The latest drive to urge people to sign up to the organ donor register has been launched by the Health Secretary.

Nicola Sturgeon kicked off the campaign at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary today as she met with the parents of a donor and the recipient of an organ donation.

Ms Sturgeon met Helen Lang, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, who had a life-saving liver transplant at the hospital in June.

She also spoke to Brian and Muriel McCabe, whose son Grant died suddenly aged 40 in September 2010 and went on to donate organs that saved the lives of six other people.

The Health Secretary said: "Last year there were 67 organ donors in Scotland - a rate of 13 donors per million population - up from 9.8 donors per million in 2006-07.

"Our rate of sign-up to the Organ Donor Register has also hit an all-time high, with 37% of the population signed up to save a life, compared to the UK average of 30%.

"However, the tragic fact is that more than 600 people in Scotland are still waiting for a life-saving transplant, and across the UK three people die every day because they don't get the organ they need in time."

The £590,000 campaign will begin today and run for three weeks throughout November, primarily across TV, radio and online.

It will invite people to register by phone, text or online.
Professor John Forsythe, lead clinician for organ donation in Scotland and consultant transplant surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, said: "The more people we have on the register, the better the chance of saving lives.

"I would urge everyone who hasn't already signed up to join the national register. It only takes a minute but each donor could save as many as eight lives."

The launch follows calls for the Scottish Government to consider an opt-out system for organ donation.

The issue was debated at the SNP conference in Inverness at the weekend, where Nationalists overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling on the Government to consider an opt-out approach.