Living kidney donation is an exceptional gift

With more than 400 people in Scotland waiting on a kidney transplant, NHS Forth Valley is emphasising how living kidney donation plays a vital role in increasing donation and transplantation rates, with a kidney from a living donor generally offering the best outcomes.

New research released shows that four out of five people (80 per cent) in Scotland would be likely to consider donating a kidney whilst alive to a family member, with almost half (48 per cent) stating they’d be likely to consider donating to a friend, and 13 per cent saying they’d consider donating to someone they didn’t know.

There are two routes to living kidney donation – directed donation where a friend, relative or partner donates to a loved one, or non-directed altruistic donation which involves a person donating to a stranger.

Over the last 60 years, 1500 people in Scotland have helped others by donating a kidney, with over 100 people making the decision to donate one of their kidneys altruistically since 2009.

Allan Rennie, NHS Forth Valley’s Organ Donation Committee chairman, said: “Through raising awareness that living kidney donation is an option, the hope is that more patients living with kidney failure can avoid or reduce the time they have to spend on dialysis and have a better quality of life.

“A healthy person can lead a completely normal life with one kidney, and anyone can volunteer to find out more about donating, but it must be something they choose to do and feel comfortable doing.”

Living Donation Scotland is the name given to the Scottish Government activity focused on raising awareness of all aspects of living kidney donation and transplantation.

Jen Lumsdaine, Living Donation Scotland’s lead nurse, added: “Living donation is an exceptional gift, and although Scotland has an opt out system of deceased organ and tissue donation, living kidney donation continues to play a vital part in improving transplant numbers, so more lives can be saved and transformed.”

Perhaps there could be no better time of year to consider such an exceptional gift. For more information visit www.organdonation.scot/living-donation.