A draft law on organ donation will be published within the coming months, according to Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne.

This white paper will lead to the first organ donation law in Malta, he said during a visit to Mater Dei Hospital’s Renal Unit where two NGOs – Lupus Support Group and Lifecycle – presented donations to the unit.

This year, 18 kidney transplants had been successfully carried out but some 80 patients were waiting for a kidney, Mr Fearne said.

The renal unit currently takes care of 250 patients, with 65 visiting the unit daily.

Mr Fearne called on the public to help the renal unit by registering as organ donors and donating blood given that the unit needed about three units of blood per day.

The Malta Transplant Support group has long been calling on the government to give organ donors the final say about the fate of their organs after they die.

The current hospital practice allows next of kin to decide what happens when their relatives pass away – even if that person has registered for organ donation.

Individuals who have signed up to be donors should not have their decision overturned by their next of kin, the support group has insisted.

Some 2,000 people sign up to be organ donors every year, giving Malta one of the highest donor rates in Europe. Some 30,000 are currently registered to give their organs.

Despite this, between 10 and 20 deaths per year offer the possibility of organ harvesting.

These have to be related to brain deaths, which usually occur as a result of traffic accidents, a fall or brain haemorrhage.

Plus, the patient would also have to be on a ventilator at the hospital’s Intensive Therapy Unit when they pass away.