Bermuda is to launch a massive educational campaign on organ donation in a bid to get every resident carrying a donor card and discussing the issue.

April 22 to 26 has been earmarked as Organ and Tissue Donor Week to raise awareness of the Island's need for donors, and to entice both individuals and businesses to offer their support.

The Bermuda Organ and Tissue Donor Council was set up in March.

It combined the skills of emergency and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) doctors and nurses, teachers, staff from the Transport Control Department, organ recipients, as well as family members of deceased donors.

Already they have an array of events set up for the coming months.

They are setting their sights on becoming a registered charity later in the year, but, in the meantime, are looking for sponsorship to enable them to publish local information leaflets and donor cards, as well as carry out health tests during donor week.

Throughout the week they will be based every day at TCD giving out cards, and to inform the public that they can attach organ donor stickers to their driving licences.

Chairman of the group Glenda Daniels, who is clinical co-ordinator of the ICU at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, said the aim of the group was to lift the profile of organ donation 12 months of every year. "We are aiming for everyone on the Island to have an organ donor card and then to talk to their next of kin about their wishes" said Mrs. Daniels. "It is a two step process. Even if you carry a donor card, your next of kin must give permission for your organs to be removed and donated if you are pronounced brain dead.

"It is very often the kind of issue that people don't think about until it impacts on them - and they need a transplant themselves, or a loved one does. We want people to think and talk about it now."

Mrs. Daniels said Bermuda had one of the highest rates of kidney failure in the world, due to the high rate of high blood pressure and diabetes. She added: "Although a lot of organs that are donated from people in Bermuda go to recipients in the US, there are still quite a lot of people in Bermuda who are on waiting lists for a transplant, or who have received new organs through the New England Organ Bank, of which Bermuda is a member.

"Needing transplants affects all kinds of people at very different stages of their lives. It is important that people realise that it could happen to them or somebody they love."

Mrs. Daniels said in the US a new name was added to the transplant waiting lists every 30 minutes. But she said, sadly, every single day in America six people died while waiting for a donation that never arrived. She added: "The council has three main focuses at the moment. The first is to continually educate people about organ donation, the second is donor week, and then the third is a banquet we are hoping to arrange in October to recognise all donors, their families and recipients in Bermuda."

She said already a meeting was set up with Health Minister Nelson Bascome this week, who had expressed an interest to get behind the campaign. And she said members of the council will also be going to TCD on Thursday to educate workers on the issue of organ donation and how to tactfully ask customers if they would like their driver's licence to be marked with the organ donor symbol.

She added: "From only a couple of years ago, people who received a new driving licence could have their donor status put on their card.

"We are going to be going to TCD to explain to staff why it's so important that they ask everyone who has been coming in for a licence, and to make sure they feel comfortable asking people. Not everyone does."

And as the council counts down to donor week, she said it would be making contact with a number of businesses in a search for sponsorship and support.

Mrs. Daniel's said Capital G Bank had already voiced an interest to get involved, and suggested that when people opened new bank accounts it could ask them what their organ donation status was, and if not, offer them information and cards.

She said the council was hoping the other banks, and many other businesses, too, would follow suit, either by trying to promote organ donation to their customers or their staff. But she said the council, which already has about 20 members, was also looking to get as many people involved as possible. Anyone who has a useful skill, or just an interest in the council, should attend their next meeting.

However, Mrs. Daniels said there were specific people that the council was aiming to get on board, including a paediatrician, anaesthetist, social worker, psychologist and ethics officer.

Anyone looking for more information or who would like to get involved should contact Mrs. Daniels at glendannorthrock.bm.