Because of this DonateLife Victoria’s State Medical Director Dr Rohit D’Costa is keen for more people to apply to be an organ donor.
McPherson Media’s Cobram Courier recently spoke with Krishna Manser, who shared her story of how an organ donation saved her life.
She was keen to also speak with other newspapers in the MMG group for a second article to help spread the message of why it is important to be registered as an organ donor.
“I think organ donation in Australia is vital because transplants may be the only option to save or change the life of a person who is suffering from a life-threatening illness,” Ms Manser said.
“I know two people that have passed away in the last 16 months before receiving their transplant.”
Some countries such as Wales and Iceland have changed the way people register to be an organ donor, moving to an opt-out model.
What this means is that everyone is automatically an organ donor, unless they register to not be.
“I would like to see the opt-out model in Australia as the majority of people who I speak to are not sure how to register to become an organ donor,” Ms Manser said.
“The majority of them can’t understand why we don’t have an opt-out system in Australia.”
Dr D’Costa said DonateLife was monitoring outcomes in countries that had introduced an opt-out model.
“(We are doing that) to see if countries moving to an ‘opt-out’ system have increased their consent rate in hospitals resulting in an increase in donation rates,” Dr D’Costa said.
“Regardless of the consent system, in Australia the family will always be asked by the hospital if they would consider or agree to the donation of their loved one’s organs and/or tissue.
“Families are more likely to consent to donation when their loved one has registered their intent to be an organ and tissue donor and has told their family about it.
“Australia has some of the best transplant outcomes in the world.
“Consent rates are higher when a donation specialist nurse or doctor is involved in supporting families to make a decision about donation.
“We are working to ensure that all families have access to accurate information and expert support from a DonateLife nurse at this time.
“World-leading countries, such as Spain, have said that having embedded specialist staff involved in the family discussion about organ donation is what has made their consent rates so high.”
Dr D’Costa said 2020 was a particularly challenging year for the Australian organ transplant program.
“COVID-19 (has had) a direct impact on ... organ and tissue donation and transplantation numbers,’’ he said.
“The DonateLife teams worked incredibly hard with transplant teams to navigate the challenges facing hospitals and logistics — including with COVID-19 restrictions, flight reductions and border closures — so that patients received the best possible outcomes.
“Our national consent rate dropped to 58 per cent in 2020, meaning less families said yes to donation.
“There is no doubt that the COVID-19 restrictions in hospitals contributed to this decrease.
“(However) even in such challenging circumstances, families were still motivated to donate and help others through donation.”
In 2020, there were 1270 Australian lives saved through organ transplants, due to the generosity of 463 deceased organ donors and their families.
Australia’s organ donation rates have been increasing in recent years and as a nation it is now 16th in the world.
Ms Manser said she believed organ donation rates in Australia could be higher but there are still some misconceptions — for example people thinking they were ineligible for various reasons including if they drank or smoked, or did not do much exercise, or perhaps they thought they were too old.
“I believe there is not enough awareness in regional Victoria regarding organ donation,” she said.
“We need an advertising campaign that targets all age groups and that actually explains these misconceptions that people have.”
Dr D’Costa, however, said this was an area where DonateLife had been focussing its efforts.
“DonateLife runs an annual, national awareness-raising campaign titled DonateLife Week at the end of July,” he said.
“This year the campaign actually ran through June, July, August and amassed (more than) 100,000 registrations – a record for any DonateLife campaign.
“The campaign theme was The Great Registration Race and the support by regional Victorians... was a big part of our success with this campaign.”
Ms Manser said the most important thing was for Victorians to speak to their family or loved ones to discuss organ donation.
“And then they need to contact www.donatelife.gov.au to register.
“Organ donors and their families are very special people for choosing to save other people’s lives during what I know must be a heartbreaking time.
“My family and I will never be able to thank my donor and their family enough for giving me a second chance of life.”
