SOME 7,500 people need an organ transplant in Britain, with many dying for lack of a donor. This month the government unveiled proposals to tackle the country's low donor rate. One idea is to switch to an opt-out system, whereby consent after death is presumed unless potential donors explicitly register their disapproval. Spain does this and has a donor rate that is nearly three times higher than that of Britain. But an opt-out system does not guarantee success. Sweden (which also has opt-outs) sees just 15.1 donors per million people, a rate little better than Britain's.

AP