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The Parliamentary Secretary for Health & Ageing, The Hon. Shayne Neumann, MP, has today announced that Australia has experienced a record quarter for organ donation.
"In the first quarter of 2013, the national outcome of 119 donors is a 55% increase on donors for the same period for 2012. This means 70 more people have benefited from a transplant in just the first three months of this year, compared to the same time last year," Mr Neumann said.
Gift of Life strongly supports the Australian Government’s initiative to assist organ transplantation by facilitating live donation.
The new program will enable people who are alive to donate an organ, mostly a kidney, to a relative or close friend by helping to reduce the significant financial burden involved while they are off work which to date has precluded them from becoming a donor.
Gift of Life Inc. celebrates the news released earlier today that in 2012 more Australians than ever before received a life-saving transplant.
Figures released by the Government and the Australian and New Zealand Organ Donation Registry (ANZOD) show that there was a 5% increase in donors above 2011 which resulted in a 4% increase in transplant recipients. Each donor can save many lives.
The highest number of kidney transplants ever from deceased donors and the highest number of liver transplants were achieved. There was also a significant increase in corneal transplants in 2012 enabling many people’s eyesight to be improved.
Around Australia, NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT all achieved their best ever organ donation results.
For the sixth time, Gift of Life organised the annual DonateLife Walk in Canberra on 22 February 2012 as one of the key events held around Australia during national DonateLife Week. The event was sponsored by the Government’s Organ and Tissue Authority.
The aim was to highlight the importance of people signing the Australian Organ Donor Register and of having a family discussion to know their loved ones’ wishes in order to increase donation consent rates in future.
There was a very large turnout this year with around 2,400 Canberrans taking part, including many more young people. The event attracted strong media coverage. It was a wonderful morning, a colourful occasion with many balloons, bright T-shirts and hats worn and photographic images of key personalities involved in transplant activities in the ACT and Sydney hospital teams reflecting the nature of the occasion.
Most participants took the regular route from Regatta Point around the lake across Kings and Commonwealth Avenue bridges and back. Others took the new alternative shorter walk around Commonwealth Park which was less demanding and better for those needing to get to work early.
Key participants included The Hon. Catherine King, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Ms Katy Gallagher ACT Chief Minister, Senator Gary Humphries representing the Federal Opposition Leader, Ms Gai Brodtmann Member for Canberra, Mr Zed Seselja ACT Opposition Leader, Mr Jeremy Hanson ACT Shadow Health Minister, Ms Jane Halton head of the Department of Health and Ageing, Ms Yael Cass CEO of the Organ and Tissue Authority, Dr Peggy Brown head of ACT Health as well as a number of sporting personalities including members of the TransACT Capitals, Olympic athletes and the official AIS starter, Masterchef finalist Alana Lowes at the BBQ, local business and community leaders, staff from government departments and agencies as well as large numbers of school and university students.
Gift of Life President David O’Leary thanked all those who turned out to show their support for organ and tissue donation: “Events like the DonateLife Walk provide an important opportunity for people to have a conversation with their loved ones and to know their wishes so they are prepared to give their consent to donation should the situation ever arise. So we were pleased to see so many people take part in the Walk this year held during national DonateLife Week.”
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The results of organ donation for 2011 are now available showing that the generosity of 337 families resulted in more than 1,000 transplants. The Parliamentary Secretary, The Hon Catherine King, MP, has congratulated the DonateLife network for this pleasing result.
Gift of Life thanks those families for their selflessness at a time of incredible grief. Their decisions have made a difference to the lives of Australians who would otherwise be facing an uncertain future.
The ACT again led the way with just over 21 donors per million population (the common statistic used in the organ donor sector). We thank our donor families and the clinical staff who have worked tirelessly to support those families in respecting the wishes of their loved ones.
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