Gains made in organ donation, but work to do
A record number of deceased people gifted organs in New Zealand this year, continuing an upward trend in donation rates.
But overseas experts say only a national reform will reap the country big gains in donation rates.
As of November 19, 63 people donated their organs, up from 61 in 2016 and 53 in 2015.
Dr James Judson, a medical specialist for Organ Donation New Zealand, said much of the increase in donations rates can be attributed to the quality improvement programme rolled out across the country’s intensive care units since 2011.
The quality improvement programme is an education-focused initiative aimed at helping ICU staff identify potential donors.
In 2016, New Zealand had 13 deceased organ donors per million population, compared to 20.8 in Australia and 21.4 in Britain.
Judson travelled to Geneva in September to attend the The International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement’s 14th congress and delivered the message New Zealand’s deceased donor rates were tracking in the right direction.
Organs can be donated after a patient is declared brain dead (DBD) or after circulatory death (DCD), after the heart has stopped.
Judson said New Zealand rates of DBD were almost the same as Australia and Britain.
Australia and Britain’s overall deceased donor rate was higher because they have more DCD, he said.
‘‘We’ve seen this trend and for the first time it’s statistically significant. We’ve done quite well in DBD.’’
Judson said New Zealand’s DCD rates would increase as more health professionals identified it as a possibility and became more familiar and comfortable with the process.
In 2008, the Australian Government announced a national reform programme for organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
The reform was accompanied by a $150m funding injection over four years.
As part of the reform, the government created a national overseeing body, the Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA).
Dr Helen Opdam, a senior intensive care specialist, is the national medical director of OTA.
She said a crucial aspect of the national reform was it created leadership roles in the organ and tissue donation sector.
‘‘Money in itself does nothing, but it was the ability to begin to organise and resource things properly,’’ Opdam said.
Since 2009, there has been a 104 per cent increase in deceased organ donors in Australia, up from 247 to 503 in 2016.
The state of Victoria led the country in 2016, with 140 deceased organ donors.
Earlier this year, then health minister Jonathan Coleman released a national strategy aimed at increasing deceased donation and transplantation in New Zealand.
Health ministry officials consulted Opdam as an overseas expert.
Opdam said the gains New Zealand has made are noteworthy but consideration should be given to a national reform.
‘‘There’s been some modest funding for link nurses and funding to boost live kidney donation in New Zealand but New Zealand hasn’t received the same amount of funding that Australia began to invest in 2009,’’ she said.
‘‘So it’s a credit to James Judson and others working in New Zealand that New Zealand rates have increased.’’
A national reform in Britain in 2007 led to the doubling of donation rates in that country.
Opdam said DCD was a more challenging pathway to organ donation but one New Zealand should continue to put resources into.
In 2016, New Zealand’s DCD rate was 1.3 donors per million population, compared to Australia at 5.3 and Britain at 8.9.