Media Release
DonateLife Week, July 26 to August 2, 2020
Transplant Australia today called on every Australian to give hope to the 1,600 patients waiting for a life-saving transplant by registering as organ and tissue donors.
Marking the start of DonateLife Week, Transplant Australia CEO, Chris Thomas, asked Australians to consider the additional burden these patients were facing during these extraordinary times.
“The COVID-19 Pandemic has reminded us of our own mortality and the need to stay healthy and well in case we are exposed to this virus. It has told us our future is very much in our own hands,” Mr Thomas said.
“But for the 1,600 people waiting for a life-saving transplant their future is very much dependent upon someone else. That ‘someone else’ is another Australian who can commit to saving lives through the gift of life by registering with the Australian Organ Donor Register.
“Transplantation is a unique area of medicine. We can have all the nursing, medical and surgical expertise in the world. We can have the operating theatres, the perfusion technologies, the transport systems. And don’t forget the ancillary services – the police, pilots, drivers and orderlies.
“But without donors and their families, the system comes to a crashing halt. This ingredient – the generosity of one human to another – makes transplantation like no other area of medicine.”
Transplant Australia supports DonateLife Week and its call for all Australians to register at donatelife.gov.au
“Registration is the clearest message you can leave your family and friends that in the event of your passing you wish to donate the gift of life. Registration is respected by families with more than 90 per cent of families agreeing with their loved one’s decision at time of donation,” Mr Thomas said.
“Conversely for the families that don’t know the wishes of their loved one, organ and tissue donation is a difficult decision at the most difficult time of their lives. We see that dilemma in the statistics with only one in two families agreeing to donation in those circumstances.”
Australia could save many more lives if more people registered to become donors.
Visit donatelife.gov.au during DonateLife Week, register, and let your family and friends know your decision.
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