One minute your loving life, the next your life hangs in the balance.
It only takes 1 minute to register to be an organ donor but it only takes a split second for everything to go catastrophically wrong and your family are forced to decide if they will become a Donor Family.
Whilst this message is for everyone, it is intended for the politicians and administrators across Australia who can make the changes necessary to increase the #nextofkinconsent rates.
No family wants to become a Deceased Donor Family and truth be known none of us want to be a deceased Donor.
We can be all altruistic and register our intention and we can talk openly as families about what we would want to happen if we or someone we love dies sooner than anyone wants.
Deceased organ donation happens only when a person dies In very particular circumstances and even then can only happen when the Senior Next of Kin says yes to Consent to the Donation of organs and tissue.
No amount of Opt in or Opt out, registration of intent or deeming of consent will change that.
Talk about the 1 in 14800 chance that you will be one of the people who die on life support after suffering an aneurysm or having an accident, and what you would want your family to say when asked to donate your organs. If you are a parent, ask yourself if you want your child to donate their organs if it is them as the 1 in 14800 Australians.
When you have answered that question then ask yourself, has the messaging on Organ Donation in Australia been effective to this point?
Is the focus and the money being spent on Advertising Campaigns and Sporting Sponsorship impacting people in a way that is having a positive impact on Next of Kin Consent rates?
I would argue the answer is no! And the decline in percentage terms supports my argument. In 2022 Consent Rates fell to a new low.
Of the 1300 families asked for consent 599 said NO. That is 46%.
That is despite the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority claiming rhe majority of Australian support organ and tissue donation.
Millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on sports sponsorship, advertising to drive registration of intent and administration of centralised bureaucracy, yet the decline in Next of Kin Consent that started prior to COVID continues.
Make 2023 a Sliding Door moment, where instead of doing what we have always done, we change the way in which we educate, communicate and legislate for Organ and Tissue and Transplant Awareness.
Let’s save lives and celebrate the life savers and the families who give the gift of life.
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