Waste not, want not: new organ donation policy could save lives

Abstract

Australia has never had a great deceased organ donor rate – and it fell last year. But proposed guidelines from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) could change how donor organs are obtained and allocated for the better. DonateLife Australia, the government body responsible for organ donation and transplantation, has just announced there were 16.1 deceased organ donors per million people in Australia in 2014. This represents a 5% decline from 2013 and maintains Australia’s deceased organ donor rate in the bottom half of OECD countries. It’s important to note, though, that the 2013 rate was the highest ever recorded. More people in this country die waiting for organ transplants than in many other developed countries, but it’s not all bad news: Australia has a long and successful history in organ transplantation. Outcomes following organ transplantation are world leading – more than 90% of patients who receive a kidney, heart, heart-lung or liver transplant are alive a year later. And more than 90% of people who receive a transplant have normal function of their new organ. The number of organs retrieved from each deceased donor is also higher than in many countries.