Speeches

Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the importance of (a) blood and platelet donation, (b) stem cell donation, (c) bone marrow donation and (d) organ registration among school-aged children.

Nicola Blackwood

NHS Blood and Transplant runs donor recruitment campaigns for blood, platelet, stem cell and organ donation throughout the year. Examples include the recently launched Missing Type campaign to promote blood donation; implementation of their Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK Strategy and management of the NHS Cord Blood Bank and British Bone Marrow Registry, working with Anthony Nolan.

Specific action addressing awareness of registration among school-aged children includes the introduction of new education resources designed to equip secondary school teachers with the knowledge to educate and engage students about organ donation and working with Anthony Nolan to run the Be a Lifesaver education programme which trains volunteers to educate 16-18 year olds about stem cell, blood and organ donation.