The Epoch Times interviewed three representatives from the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation in order to provide its readers with a better understanding of organ donation practices in Canada.
The CCDT develops and provides advice about improving organ and tissue donation and transplantation for the federal, provincial, and Territorial Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health.
The interview panel consisted of Dr. Sam Shemie, council member, Dr. John Dossetor, council member, and Kimberly Young, CEO of CCDT. The following is based on Dr. Shemie's comments.
Becoming an Organ Donor
In Canada organ and tissue donors must first be deceased. If a patient in a hospital is near death or has died the family may be approached to make a decision about organ donation.
If you want to be an organ donor, you should make your intentions known. Depending on the province, the intent to donate organs could be noted on the driver's license or health card, while in some provinces there is a formal registry for organ donors.
However, the binding nature of the donor registry is still unclear, and there are also complications in getting this information to the medical professionals. It is most important for an intended organ donor to tell his or her family of their intent to donate, according to Shemie.
"The bottom line is when someone is dying in a hospital it would be the family that is approached and it is the family that ultimately give consent to proceed," he says. "It is more important from our point of view to make their wishes know to their family members."
Organ Transplant Process
In Canada when an organ becomes available, the organ is first tested and evaluated. If it is a healthy and suitable organ, then it is matched with a potential recipient. Then a surgical team will remove the organs and transport them to where the transplant surgery will occur. This can be in the same city, same province, or anywhere else in Canada.
There is confidentiality between the donor and the recipients. The donor's family will not know where the organs went. The organ procurement organization or the hospital might inform the donor's family in a follow up letter which organs were used.
Organ Availability
The average waiting time in Canada for a kidney transplant is one-and-a-half to four years. Last year there were 17,000 patients waiting for a kidney transplant and there are 5,000 new patients added to this list every year.
The proportion of registered donors varies from province to province, with 15-20 percent registered donors in British Columbia and 50 percent registered donors in Nova Scotia.
"The impact of the registry on actual donation is unclear," says Dr. Shemie. "Because even if you have registered, still, in this country we are relying on the families' consent to go ahead."
In hospitals with staff dedicated to discussing organ donation with the families of dead or dying patients, 16 or 17 percent consent to donate organs. This number also varies in multicultural cities like Toronto and Vancouver, where different cultures have different ethical and religious views on organ donation.
In Ontario there is a discussion on developing "required referral" legislation. If this comes into effect the hospitals will be obliged to inform the transplant organization of a death or the imminent death of a patient. They will assess if the patient could be a potential donor, and if the patient had registered for organ donation.
Additional reporting by Masha Loftus
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