Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman

Minister of Health

26 July 2016
Progress being made on organ donation and transplants

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says New Zealand’s rates of organ donation and transplants are slowly increasing.

“Organ transplantation is a life-saving treatment and for people with organ failure it’s often the only option available,” says Dr Coleman.

“Decisions by families of deceased donors and by living donors, together with the compassion and hard work of staff means that more and more patients are receiving transplants.”

Auckland DHB carried out 90 kidney, 48 liver, 23 lung, 12 heart, and three pancreas transplants, as well as many tissue transplants in 2015 - the highest figures to date. The first combined liver and pancreas transplant was also performed.

“A total of 149 adults and 21 children benefited from these transplants last year and while great progress is being made on organ donation rates, more can still be done,” says Dr Coleman.

“Letting your family and friends know you would like to be an organ donor is really important.

“In the past four years, an additional $8 million has been provided to increase support and education for hospital staff, fund donor liaison co-ordinators, and help overcome cultural barriers to donation.

“More work needs to be done, which is why the Ministry of Health is currently consulting on ways to boost deceased organ donation and transplantation.

“Proposals include standardising how hospitals identify potential donors and discuss donation with families, and raising public awareness about becoming a donor.

“Many other countries have achieved significant improvements, after introducing strategies to increase their organ donation rates, and we hope to do the same through the proposals we are consulting on.”

Dr Coleman made the comments during his visit to Auckland City Hospital today.

Auckland Hospital is the main transplant centre for New Zealand and the only hospital to carry out liver, lung, heart and pancreas transplants. An additional 59 kidney transplants were performed at Wellington and Christchurch Hospitals in 2015.

Consultation on the proposals is open until Friday 29 July on the Ministry of Health website http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/hospitals-and-specialist-care/review-deceased-organ-donation-and-transplantation

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