Quebec marks National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week

National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week is April 18 to 25 and advocacy groups are using the occasion to share news of the ongoing work and challenges they face.

“Only slightly more than one per cent (1%) of people who die in hospital are likely to become organ donors, which is equivalent to about 450 people per year if all the necessary conditions are met in each case,” said Louis Beaulieu, the Executive Director of Transplant Québec, noting that although any person can be considered a potential donor, Transplant Québec and their medical team has to assess the overall physical health, medical and social history, and general condition at the time of death of every possible donor in order to determine whether a donation can move forward. As a result, the pool of possible donors shrinks considerably when other factors come into play, such as changes in the rates of referral or families opting out of donation.

Earlier this year Transplant Québec reported that organ and tissue donations were down at least 20 per cent over the pandemic period due largely to a drop in referrals during the shutdown in the spring of 2020. Even though that initial deficit bounced back later in the year, the group and other like it are still using the national week of awareness to keep their lifesaving message present in people’s minds.

Another major stumbling point, the organization notes, is that more than 20 per cent of families, or one in five, oppose organ donation even when the possible donor has provided written consent in advance.

Patrick Lefebvre, President of the Fondation Justin Lefebvre, is very conscious of the personal impacts of organ donation, after his eight-year-old nephew became a donor following his accidental death in 2017.

“Justin had signed his donor card with his mother just a few weeks before his birthday,” Lefebvre said, explaining that his nephew’s choice, supported by the family, meant that his heart, kidneys, and other tissues were able to help four other children. He noted that the family still receives an anonymous letter from each of the recipients’ families each year.

As a result of the impact of Justin’s donations, the foundation named for him has adopted organ and tissue donation as one of two main causes it supports through fundraising and advocacy work.

Although that work has been more challenging, with opportunities for fundraising and advocacy work limited by restrictions on public gathering and organized activities, Lefebvre said that the foundation has made steps forward in its goals all the same. He expressed particular enthusiasm about a childrens’ book that has been published called “Un Cadeau precieux” or “a precious gift.” The book, he explained, is aimed at helping to explain the idea of organ donation to children who may need help understanding the idea after the loss of a friend or loved one.

The organization has also begun to set up a website at https://donorganes. ca/ with information (in French) about what is involved in organ and tissue donation, as well as some of the foundation’s projects on the topic.

Héma-québec, which acts as a supplier of human tissues intended for transplants (including cutaneous tissues, heart valves, and musculoskeletal tissues, such as tendons and bones), is also taking the opportunity this week to remind everyone of the importance of indicating consent to be a donor by signing their health insurance card or joining one of the official registries and, especially, letting loved ones know their wishes.

In their messaging for the National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week the organization expressed that without the generosity of those who accept to make an organ or tissue donation after death and the agreement of their loved ones to honour that choice, it would be impossible to meet the needs of sick patients or those injured in an accident who require a graft. Noting that the death of a loved one is always a difficult time, the group points out thar knowing a person’s wishes in advance makes it easier to speak with the medical team when questions about donation arise.

To learn more about donating human tissues, visit the Héma-québec website at www.hema-quebec.qc.ca, Human Tissues section.

More information about the Government of Quebec’s policies on organ donation are available online, in English, at https://www.quebec. ca/en/health/blood-tissue-and-organdonation/organ-and-tissue-donation