8 May 2008
On the waiting list
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Fifty thousand dollars for a kidney -- the idea was raised this week by Canberra doctor Gavin Carney. Under the scheme young, healthy people would be permitted to sell a kidney for transplant, easing long waiting lists and potentially saving lives. Selling organs is illegal in Australia and there's a penalty of six months jail -- so while the idea didn't gain much support, it did serve to reinvigorate the discussion about our low organ donation rate.
In Queensland the Bligh government plans to investigate the 'opt out' system. It was raised at the recent 2020 Summit by Janelle Colquhoun, one of the more than 1,800 Australians waiting for an organ donation.
Under the opt out system, it's assumed that an individual wants to be a donor unless they state otherwise. A Parliamentary Select Committee has been set up in Queensland to look at the merits of this 'presumed consent' as well as the legal, ethical and medical issues around it. While the research says that 96 per cent of Australians support organ and tissue donation in principle, why do so few go ahead with the process?
Guests
Tina Coco
Manager Queenslanders Donate
Jeremy Chapman
Chair, National Clinical Taskforce on Organ and Tissue Donation
Gerry O'Callaghan
Senior consultant intensive care, Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia
Further Information
For a link to the National Organ Donation Collaborative
National Clinical Taskforce on Organ and Tissue Donation
Sydney Morning Herald: opinion
Presenter
Paul Barclay
Story Researcher and Producer
Debra McCoy
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