Transplant Australia is concerned about the hidden residual effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australia’s organ and tissue donations and has called for a return of the ‘yes’ organ donor option for state-based driver licences.
The peak body has also welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to consult the sector in the adoption of a new National Strategy for Organ Donation, Retrieval and Transplantation.
A key component of the strategy, according to Transplant Australia, will be increasing the number of Australians registered as organ donors, with evidence showing a direct correlation between registration rates and family consent rates at time of donation.
But the organisation also wanted federal, state and territory governments to work together under the proposed new national strategy to return the option to say “yes” to organ donation when applying for or renewing a driver’s licence.
“The year 2018 was a record-breaking year for donation in Australia with 554 donors saving the lives of 1,544 Australians. It represented the hard work of the DonateLife Network and the Organ and Tissue Authority over the past decade in reforming donation across Australia,” Transplant Australia CEO Mr Chris Thomas said
“Unfortunately, donation since then has been severely impacted by the COVID pandemic. In 2021 the number of donors was 421 compared to the record of 554. Unfortunately for those waiting this year looks like achieving about the same number of donors. (359 donors to the end of October).
In terms of eye donations, the latest showed in 2021 there were 1,472 donors, up by 154 compared to 2020. As a result, there were 2,413 corneal transplants, which was 6% more than 2020 when 2,277 were performed.
While the numbers are trending up, they still lag behind 2019 rates when 1,505 eye tissue donations were reported. However, 2021 is comparable to 2019 in terms of corneal transplants undertaken (2,413 vs 2,414).
“Despite significant success the one key area yet to change in donation is the overall family consent rate which fell to 56% in 2021,” Thomas added.
“There is a strong correlation between consent and registration – if a person is registered to be a donor, in nine out of 10 cases families will support that decision. This drops to four out of 10 when there is no knowledge of their wishes.”
In South Australia, where registration is still part of the driver’s licence, Thomas said 73% of the population is registered, with the family consent rate also 73%.
“That is an achievable target for all of Australia,” he said.
Transplant Australia’s Greatest Gift Legacy initiatives calls on the community, governments, business and the health sector to aim to reach a consent rate of 75% within five years through:
- Returning the ‘yes’ option of the state-based driver’s licence system with the data uploaded to the one national register
- Introducing a national education program for year 10-12 students as they move into driving age
- Modernising the Human Tissue Acts in each State and Territory to maximise donation and ease the burden on potential donor families
- Ensuring donation opportunities are maximised in hospital through routine referral of all deaths, 100% checking of the donation register and making sure every conversation with a potential donor family is carried out by professional and trained staff.
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