Labour’s health Secretary, Alan Johnson, has launched a £4.5m campaign to raise awareness of organ donation and help with recruiting nearly half the population to the organ donor register.

The Secretary of State also welcomed the report on this subject by the Organ Donations Taskforce Group which recommended against a 'presumed consent' system in the UK.

The campaign aims to help raise donor rates from the current 800 to 1,400 per year by March 2013. This would give the UK one of the best rates in Europe and, with each donor helping up to three people, could mean an extra 1,800 people getting the transplant they need each year.

Labour’s Health Secretary, Alan Johnson said:

"I am grateful to the Chair of the Taskforce, Elisabeth Buggins, and all the members for their careful and thorough examination of this difficult issue. We need to dramatically increase organ donation but the Government and the NHS can't achieve this alone. We need a much greater public understanding that organ donation saves lives.

"The Taskforce has presented a well-balanced analysis of a substantial body of evidence drawn from a wide range of groups, including healthcare professionals, organ recipients, donor families, representatives of faith groups, and members of the public.

"I accept their conclusions and recommendations, and support the priorities for action they have identified. The Taskforce conclude that donation rates equivalent to those achievable through the best presumed consent systems could still be possible without a change in the legal framework - and I therefore accept their recommendation that we should aim to achieve these rates without the complications associated with a change in the legal position.

"The Government wishes to see more progress more quickly to ensure that UK patients have the best possible chance of getting the treatment they need. We have therefore set a further challenge as part of the implementation of the Taskforce's second report. We would like to see 20 million people registered on the organ donor register by 2010 working towards 25 million on the register by 2013.

"If, however, we do not see the number of organ donations rising and progress is not being made we will revisit the issue of whether a change in the law is needed."

You can sign up to become an organ donor here