N.S. opt-out system will save lives

This week Nova Scotia became the first jurisdiction in North America to use a presumed consent system for organ donations.

What that means is that unless citizens in that province specifically choose to opt out, they will be presumed to be willing to donate their tissues and organs in the event of their deaths.

There are exceptions. Those under age 19, unable to make decisions on their own behalf or nonresidents are exempt.

A similar motion was before P.E.I.'s legislative standing committee on health in 2019 but has never gotten as far as the floor of the legislature. Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly, who made the motion in 2019 in P.E.I., told the CBC this week he would like the provincial government to look at the whole organ donation system including adding an opt-out clause. He said in the interview he plans to table a private member's bill on the topic in the fall.

We support such a motion.

More organ donations means more lives saved. Full stop.

At the same time, the presumed consent system still allows anyone who doesn’t wish to donate their tissue or organs to make their wishes known.

Currently P.E.I., like the rest of North America, has used an opt-in system that asks people to indicate, often on their government-issued identification, if they wish to be an organ and tissue donor.

But in many other places, countries have chosen to use an opt-out system, which presumes consent unless an individual has indicated otherwise.

The opt-out, or tacit consent, method is in widespread use in Europe. As a result, many countries there have among the highest organ donation rates in the world.

In 2017, Nova Scotia, using the opt-in system, had a rate of 16.8 donors per million population. Meanwhile, that same year, Spain, which has used tacit consent since 1979, had the highest rate in the world at 46.9 donors per million population.

Health-care officials in Nova Scotia say they’re seeing widespread approval and buy-in for the plan, which is encouraging. As of a month ago, only about 1,300 people in that province had chosen to opt out.

It's time P.E.I. opted in.