***Media Release***
GiveLife NZ
3 July 2008
 
Govt. Should Stop 'Stuffing Around' on Organ Donation
 
"The New Zealand government should take action on our organ donor crisis as Australia has committed to do." says GiveLife spokesman Andy Tookey.
 
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has committed $136 million to help ease the organ donor shortage.
 
$13.4 million is earmarked for public awareness programmes.
 
"In stark contrast the New Zealand government has not spent a single dollar in the past 9 years on any public awareness on organ donation despite repeated calls to from Parliament's Health Select Committee and others." Says Tookey.
 
Australia's organ donor rate is 9.3 donors per million of population. In 2006 New Zealand's organ donor rate was 6 donors per million of population.
 
"Despite Australia having a higher donor rate they acknowledge that it is still desperately low and are trying to reverse that trend.
 
The New Zealand government however, decided to go backwards, and recently passed a law that gives even more people even more rights and opportunities to veto an organ donors explicit wishes."
 
They would be wise to follow the quote of Kevin Rudd who said on the issue of organ donation: "There has been too much stuffing around on this question for too long,"
 
In the meantime many New Zealanders will die or suffer needlessly as we continue to languish in the Third World figures for our organ donation rates.
 

 
***ENDS***
 
 
 

© Scoop Media