Scotland is the only country in the United Kingdom to have consistently run annual high-profile media and advertising campaigns to promote organ donation and transplantation. I launched this year’s campaign on 27 October, and it will run until January 2015. Our annual campaigns are the reason why 41 per cent of the population in Scotland are now on the national health service organ donor register, in comparison with 32 per cent in the rest of the UK.

Additionally, on Monday this week, the Scottish Government published the first national report card on organ donation. This is the first time that NHS performance on that has been made available in such a way anywhere in the UK. This year’s report card reflects very good progress; Scotland has achieved an almost 100 per cent increase in organ donations and a 62 per cent increase in transplants since 2007. There has also been a 25 per cent reduction in the transplant waiting list since 2006.