Organ donation may become automatic 12 April 2004
By KELLY ANDREW
Every New Zealander's organs would be made available for donation when they die unless they expressly forbid it, under a proposal raised in a Health Ministry discussion document.
The system of presumed consent, which means everyone is presumed to be an organ donor unless they officially register their objection, is an option raised in the ministry's review of the regulation of human tissue.
It suggests the presumed consent system, which operates in France and several other countries with higher donor rates than New Zealand, could be the most effective way of boosting the number of organs available for transplantation here.
New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the developed world. People can wait up to 30 months for a transplant.
Other options raised by the ministry include requiring organ and tissue donation to be discussed with all patients entering hospital, changing the law so that a potential donor's wishes must be followed regardless of whether family members give their consent, and continuing with the status quo. Results of the review and public consultation will provide a basis for new legislation.
Andy Tookey, the coordinator of organ donation lobby group GiveLife, supports what he calls a "soft" system of presumed consent, which would allow the wishes of family members to override those of the potential donor.
"If you did it (removed organs for transplant) against the family's wishes, I think that would compromise the whole system by forcing it on people. It would turn people off the idea."
Mr Tookey is worried that many people are unaware of the review.
The ministry's document covers several controversial issues, including xenotransplantation - the transplanting of living cells from other species, such as pigs, into humans; arguments around the sale and purchase of human tissue, and the genetic modification of human cells.
A ministry spokesman said that, as with all consultation documents, it had been mailed to registered interested parties, published on the website and been the subject of a press release.
There would be a second opportunity for public consultation when the proposed legislation went before the health select committee.
A public meeting will be held in Wellington on April 27 and a hui in Rotorua on May 4. Written submissions close on June 4.
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