18 Jan 06
Organ donation in NZ worlds lowest
Andy Tookey 

My daughter Katie was born in 2001. Six weeks later at a routine medical check we discovered that she had a liver disease. A disease that would require a liver transplant by age one if she was to live.

I was ecstatic when doctor’s told me that a liver transplant would give her a 97% chance of a long life. That elation didn’t last long when I discovered that was the lowest in the Western World for the number of donors it has. It was just 38 donors that year.

That was just nine donors per million of population, compared with the other end of the scale of at 34 dmp.

I tried to find out why we were so low and was told by the medics that “New Zealander’s are not very giving people.” This I could not believe and started doing my own research and asking for papers under the Official Information Act.

I opened a can of worms, and continue to open more cans of worms almost on a weekly basis. My one man campaign has taken me to Parliament to fight for change. I have secured the backing of film director Peter Jackson, and have received awards and praise from the American donor societies for tackling this issue and for bringing it to the public’s attention. However, it has not been enough, as it has been revealed that in 2005 our donor rate went down to the all time lowest of 29.

We are now similar in donor rates to and .

There was an audit done in Intensive Care Units in 2002, there has not been one done since, which is not surprising as I believe it was a bit of an embarrassment for the medics. It revealed that there were 102 potential donors (donors only come from ICU.) Out of that figure the doctor’s did not ask for donation from the families in 35 cases and a further 31 families declined.

There is no law that says that the doctor’s have to ask families. They have taken that responsibility upon themselves, and then they don’t ask! Also, if you have specified that you wish to be a donor then I don’t believe that some long lost cousin should be able to veto that decision. Be aware that it is not just next of kin who can veto your wish, it appears to be ‘‘anyone with an interest in the deceased.’’ One recent proposal on who ‘should’ be able to veto your wish was “anyone to whom you had a psychological attachment.” Well I have a psychological attachment to Kylie Minogue (not that she’s aware!) but according to the men in the grey suits she should have control over my body. It’s just a shame that I wouldn’t be alive to experience it!

There are many tentacles and problems with our current system, and I am up against some considerable opposition for change from some in the medical profession. I will continue to fight for the lives of those who are being buried next to those who had the power to save their lives but were obstructed by political procrastination, bureaucratic inertia and interference from doctors and families of potential donors.

Andy Tookey runs GiveLife NZ a campaign for reform of the organ donation system. www.givelife.org.nz