NSW: More organs please
23 Feb 2009 12:01 AM
Eds: Embargoed until 0001 (AEDT) Monday, February 23, 2009
SYDNEY, Feb 23 AAP - Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred hospital's transplant team may have reached a historic milestone, but more organ donors are needed.
Launching Organ Donor Awareness Week, NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca said the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) doctors had now performed 3,000 transplants.
The team had undertaken 2,000 kidney transplants since 1967 and was the first Australian transplant service to perform 1,000 liver transplants, he said.
"RPA's transplant milestone is a reminder of the life-changing impact of every organ donation," Mr Della Bosca said in a statement.
"Organ transplantation is one of the many miracles of modern medicine. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people," he said.
Lorraine Figures, RPA's 1,000th liver recipient, is back ballroom dancing after her operation. The 61-year-old, who suffered a hereditary liver and kidney disease, also received a kidney from the same donor.
RPA's director of Transplantation Services, Richard Allen (Allen) said the seven-hour operation "helped her reclaim her life".
Ms Figures said: "All my friends are so pleased to see me now and everyone wants to dance with me again".
Eight-year-old Keoni Rakatau had spent five Christmas Days in hospital before her liver transplant, from the same donor who helped Ms Figures. She'd now gone back to school and was leading a normal childhood, her grandmother Judy said.
Mr Della Bosca said survival figures after transplantation had never been better, with 96 per cent of kidney transplant patients having a functioning kidney one year after transplantation.
"These results match those of the best units in the world," Mr Della Bosca said.
But, Patricia Wills, Manager Lifegift NSW/ACT said, only half of the families approached consented to their loved one's organs being donated.
"Talking to your family now about organ donation could be a life saving discussion," she said.
"If the time ever comes, they will be better prepared to make that difficult decision as we know that when a family is aware of the wishes of their loved one, organ donation is more likely to proceed."
For more information about organ donation call 1800 777 203 or visit www.organdonor.com.au.
