How we're slipping up our good intentions
About 1400 Australians are waiting for a transplant, with a further 11,000 on dialysis, and 90 per cent of the population supports organ/tissue donation. But … only one in three are on the National Organ Donor registry.
In National Donate Life Week, the message is clear – if you do not object to being an organ/tissue donor, register now.
You can do this by:
- Using your Medicare online account through the myGov website
- Using the Express Plus Medicare mobile app
- Registering through the online form on the DonateLife website
- Downloading a registration form from the Department of Human Services website
- Phoning 1800 777 203 (Mon-Fri, 8.30am–5pm local time)
- Requesting a registration form to be mailed to you by emailing your full name and postal address to aodr@humanservices.gov.au.
New statistics show Tasmania has the second highest rate (48 per cent) of registered organ and tissue donors in the country. South Australia has the highest percentage of donors at 67 per cent, while Northern Territory has the lowest at 12 per cent.
Donate Life Tasmanian executive officer Davin Hibberd said the possibility of people actually becoming organ donors was quite rare, which is why more registrations were needed.
“Fewer than two per cent of people who pass away in hospital end up being able to go on and donate, due to the finite clinical criteria that supports organ and tissue donations,” he said.
“It takes less than a minute to register on the donor register and that provides clinicians in the hospitals with a really definitive decision with your wish to be an organ donor.”
In 2018, 1782 lives were transformed due to the generosity of 554 deceased and 238 living organ donors and their families.
You can't make use of it when you're gone..so might as well help someone in need. Karma works in strange ways..someone might help your child or granchild later on down the track of life.