NZers Poor Organ Donors
04/06/2004 05:55 PM
NewstalkZB

The Renal Advisory Board ranks New Zealand as bottom of the barrel when it comes to organ donations.

There are renewed calls for more funding for organ donation following the release of the National Liver Transplant Unit's annual report which shows seven people have died while waiting for livers since the beginning of last year.

Renal Advisory Board Chair Dr Grant Pidgeon says kidney donation is also a major problem.

He says that unlike liver patients, those with kidney failure can be kept alive using dialysis, but he says that is costly and a patient's quality of life is not particularly good.

Dr Pidgeon says the rate of organ donation has decreased over the past decade and he believes the situation is a sad indictment on New Zealand society.