More Australian organ donors needed

Melbourne, Australia, December 26: The non-profit organization, Kidney Health Australia, is urging Australians to register themselves as organ donors to save others’ lives.

The organization says that Australia has got one of the world's best transplant success rates but organ donation rates are too low there. More than 30,000 Australians have received transplants in the last 60 years.

As of January this year, there were 1,875 people waiting for organ transplants. About 1400 Australians are waiting for a kidney transplant. Many of them will have to wait up to three years and many die on transplant waiting lists.

"The average wait is four years, waits of seven years (are) not uncommon and one death a week on average occurs while waiting for a transplant," Anne Wilson, chief executive of Kidney Health Australia, said in a statement.

Dr Tim Mathew, medical director at Kidney Health Australia, said kidney transplantation was successful in more than 90 percent of cases.

People can donate the organs, which include kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and pancreasdefine, and tissues like heart valves, bone tissue, skin and eye tissue. People can become registered organ donors by filling in a form at any Medicare office, calling 1800 777 203, or logging on to www.australiansdonate.org.au. In 2004, there were 218 organ donors in Australia, including cricketer David Hookes.

Dr. Rosanna Capolingua, the current federal president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), said in one of her speeches that every new organ donor can make a difference.

She said, “Up to ten people can receive organs and tissue from just one donor. That's ten lives that benefit because of just one person; Organ donation can also help reduce the financial burden on our health system. Organ transplants are far more cost effective than other forms of treatment in the long term."