Expanded agency targets better organ-donor rate

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

A cash injection and other changes to the organ donation system are expected to increase New Zealanders' low donation rate by half.

The Government yesterday announced it will more than double the funding for an expanded national organ-donation agency, to $700,000 a year.

The changes will take effect in the year from July.

An early task of the agency, based at Auckland City Hospital, will be to train more intensive-care unit doctors and nurses in organ-donation issues.

Later it will also run a public-awareness campaign.

Health Minister Annette King said that in a wider review of human tissue legislation, the Government would, from next month, ask the public whether a person's wish to become a donor after dying should prevail over his or her family's views.

Currently, intensive-care staff allow a family to veto organ donation from a brain-dead person, even if his or her driving licence says "donor".

Ms King highlighted Health Ministry concerns that using the driver-licensing system falls short of obligations to obtain informed consent. She said a better consent set-up was needed.

The Government's announcement is a response to the report of Parliament's health select committee on Aucklander Andy Tookey's 1169-signature petition seeking changes to address the "organ donation shortage in New Zealand".

About 40 people a year become donors after they have died, one of the lowest rates in the Western world. The organ-donation agency believes the new measures could increase this to 60.

But even this is not expected to reduce the waiting list much, because of increases in kidney disease driven by the rising rate of diabetes. About 350 people are waiting for organ transplants, mostly kidneys. About a tenth of people on the liver-transplant list die waiting.

Mr Tookey's 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Katie, is expected to need a liver transplant eventually because of a rare liver condition.

He welcomed the changes, as did New Zealand Liver Transplant unit surgeon Associate Professor John McCall.

Professor McCall said the strengthened agency would have a part-time medical director, who could visit intensive-care units around the country.

This would be an improvement on the current method - holding workshops in Auckland on organ donation issues.

"It's often the people who need to come who don't come."

The select committee recommended setting up an organ donor register linked to the driver-licence database.

The Government rejected this idea, saying that donor registers overseas had ethical problems and there was little evidence they increased donor numbers.

It asked the committee to investigate further the effectiveness and cost of a register.