MATTERS OF INTEREST

ORGAN DONATION

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:27): I rise today to discuss a matter that should be of interest and concern to all, that is, the organ donation program in South Australia and the present level of registered donors. Earlier this month, on 8 and 9 July, the health minister in another place (Hon. John Hill) presided over the National Organ Donation Summit here in Adelaide. The minister was joined by internationally-reputed speakers including Professor Raphael Matesanz of the National Organisation of Transplants in Spain; Mr Tom Mone, CEO of One Legacy USA; and Dr Gerry O'Callaghan, Chair of the Advisory Group of the National Organ Donation Collaborative.

These specialists were joined by a host of Australian practitioners and academics. Issues canvassed included national governance, donation after cardiac death, consent and family refusal, and the question of further legislative change, if required. I understand that the conference was of considerable benefit to attendees, as was the public lecture hosted by the minister. The exchange of views, ideas and techniques between those involved in the medical, legal and ethical aspects of donation and transplantation, and the discussion of real experiences by both donor families and recipients, is vital in this emotive area. As members know, it is a highly emotive area.

Organ donations save lives. Organ and tissue donations have offered a second chance to many people in our community. Although some donations can be made by living donors—the kidney being an obvious example—most organ transplants are possible only where a donor has generously elected to give his or her organs and/or tissue after death, in order to help others.

Some members presently in this place may not be aware that the first organ transplants in Australia took place in 1963, when advances in medical technique and technology enabled successful kidney transplants to take place. These days, surgeons can transplant organs, including heart, liver, lungs and pancreas, and tissue such as corneas, heart valves, bone and skin.

More than 30,000 people have received life-giving transplants in South Australia since the early days, but more donors are desperately needed. Despite overwhelming community support for the idea of organ and tissue donation for transplantation, Australia still has one of the lowest organ donor rates in the world at approximately 10 donors per million of population. By contrast, in 2005, Spain had a rate of 35.1, the USA 21.4 and the UK 10.7. Australia's rate has remained static over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, transplant waiting lists Australia-wide hover around the 2,000 mark. About 100 men, women and children die each year waiting for an organ transplant.

We often hear that one organ donor has the potential of improving the health and quality of life of up to 10 people. Who would hesitate when an opportunity exists to give the gift of life with a new heart for a sufferer of chronic heart failure, the gift of breath with new lungs for a victim of cystic fibrosis, the gift of freedom from a lifetime of dialysis with a kidney transplant, and the gift of sight, the most treasured sense, with a healthy cornea?

For recipients, waiting is tough. We have all heard of those for whom the call has meant a new chance of life and for time with family and loved ones, and we have heard too of those for whom the call has come too late but, more often than not, there is waiting—the interminable waiting. It can hardly surprise us that some despair of ever getting the call that means so much.

Members will recall the death of Ashley Cooper during the Clipsal 500 race last year. They may not be aware that Mr Cooper, aged only 27 and in the prime of his life, was a registered donor who saved the lives of seven seriously ill people by donating his organs. Part of his liver saved a six year old child who I believe had only days to live. Others received his heart, lungs, pancreas and kidneys. It goes without saying that families are always consulted under the protocols that follow the death in circumstances where donation is indicated. Mr Cooper's family all supported his wishes and the donation process that followed, his father saying publicly and amidst his own tragedy that he could not be more proud of his son. Surely there is comfort to be gained in supporting the wishes of a family member who is no longer with us. Many have spoken and written about exactly this aspect of their loss, and they are not always people of high public profile.

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