Organ Donors Needed

Written on February 24, 2012 – 5:00 am | by Jasmine Sweatman

Canadians generally have been considered generous people. A recent report however, released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) showed there are thousands of Canadians on wait lists for organs. Donor rates in Canada have been stagnant since 2006 and the numbers are disheartening.

In 2010 there were 1,022 organ donations (which lead to 2,103 transplant procedures). This was an increase of only five donors (29 procedures) since 2006.
229 Canadians died waiting for an organ in 2010.
135 people needed a new heart in 2010. 22 people died waiting for one.
At the end of 2010, 3,362 patients were waiting for a new kidney – the need for kidneys has doubled in the past 20 years.

Dr. Gary Levy, director of the University of Toronto Transplantation Institute, recently said Canada has a “disorganized, dysfunctional (organ donation) system with little accountability”. He said work needed to be done in a number of areas, including more co-operation between hospitals and jurisdictions. On the other hand, Ronnie Gavsie, president and CEO of Ontario Trillium Gift of Life Network recently said the report “does not represent the reality in Ontario”. She said the agency is working hard to increase donor rates and that in 2010 there were 200 deceased donors in Ontario, which was up from 128 in 2001.

It is fair to say that any increase in donor rates is good, but more needs to be done when people are dying while waiting for organ transplants. So, when talking to clients we need to do our part and ask whether he/she would like to make a Trillium Gift of Life and whether or not he/she would like to include a statement to that effect in their Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

Lesson Learned: Discussing organ donation and including it in a Power of Attorney for Personal Care not only makes decision making easier for families in a time of crisis, it also saves lives.

Until next time,

Jasmine Sweatman/Kathleen Jukes

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