Compensation Needed for Organ Donors

Organ Donor reform and advocacy group GiveLife NZ are seeking the views of people who have had experience of being a live organ donor or who are considering being a live donor.

"The aim is to find out if these people have experienced any obstacles, including financial that have prevented, or put these people off being a donor." says Andy Tookey, Givelife promoter.

"Live donors save the taxpayer a lot of money as they get people off dialysis machines and back to being productive taxpaying members of the community. For this, they are expected to finance their own time off work for the operation and travel expenses for hospital appointments. Not many people with families and mortgages can afford to do this. We want to hear from people who have experienced difficulties so that we can put together a detailed report to try and persuade Parliament that action is needed in this area."

GiveLife NZ was successful earlier this year in persuading the government to form a new National Organ Donor agency with substantial new funding. New Zealand currently has one of the lowest organ donor rates in the world.

Anyone wishing to present their experiences or views can send them to:

GiveLife NZ 296b Sunset Road Mairangi Bay Auckland

or email andy@givelife.org.nz

Other contact details are on the GiveLife Website: www.givelife.org.nz