Organ donation phobia !

Australia is one of the world's most advanced nations with a population of just over twenty-two million citizens.   We enjoy high educational standards and our way of life is so exceptional that people of other lands literally die taking risks to try and emigrate to our shores - and yet we languish at number twenty-two on the world list of organ donations !

Hold a survey and ask people if they wish to donate organs when they die and the response is heavily positive.   An amazing number of people tick the " Organ Donor " option when renewing their drivers license, but for some strange reason this does not translate into donation acceptance when it comes to the point of agreement by relatives.

We have this strange custom of second guessing the donor's wishes.  Instead of proceeding because the deceased has indicated this wish, we ask permission from close relatives at a time when emotions are raw. We are asking people grieving at the death of a loved one to condone what they may see as a form of invasion of that persons body at a time when they are most prone to an emotional response.

There are many reasons for rejection.  Religion is amongst them.   The reasons we ask relatives is because we would not wish to proceed to retrieve this life giving gift if it caused those near and dear to believe that some part of the departed persons spirit has been interrupted in it's journey to another place.   A death in the family is perhaps the worst possible time to make decisions about the treatment of earthly remains.

Unfortunately, as a result of this dearth of donor organs, one in every six people languishing on waiting lists for a transplant die before their need can be accommodated, and yet at the same time, every day of the week a steady stream of organs that could save lives is being buried in the ground or reduced to ash in crematoriums.

We have conducted numerous advertising campaigns, urging those who wish to be organ donors to discuss this with relatives and make their wishes clear.  It has had some effect.    In 2011 those on waiting lists received 1009 transplanted organs from 337 donors, an increase of 36%,  but this is minuscule when we consider how many Australians died during that same period.

One of the points of contention is the need for speed.  When a person dies, donated organs need to be harvested quickly, and the transfer to the patient needs to happen at similar speed.  In many cases, the search for relatives and the indecision's that result close the opportunity gap.   We need to do better, and that needs a completely new approach.

There are indications that most people would support making organ donations an automatic process for those who have given prior approval, with provision for those who disagree to place their name on a register to opt out in any circumstances.  It would be wise to put this option to the test by way of a referendum at the next general election.   If the majority agree, then in a democratic country, that should be the way the community delivers the authority for a law change to make this happen.

Eventually, medical science may learn how to make stem cells duplicate any organ in the human body and make organ transplants obsolete, but that is in the future and right now we have people whose lives can be saved by using organs that are simply going to waste.

That is a question that should be put to the people - and their answer should be made into law !