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Organ donations expected to rise with new program

By: Sandy Klowak

Posted: 08/10/2010 8:47 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Dr. Peter Nickerson

WINNIPEG — Officials expect organ donations to rise in Manitoba thanks to a new program being launched by the province and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority that hopes to increase organ donations by over 20 per cent.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald announced the $360,000 project Tuesday. The money will fund a team of hospital-based organ donation specialists to be implemented starting this fall. Physicians with medical expertise in organ donations will provide medical care to organ donors, co-ordinate organ donor medical assessment, promote donating in emergency departments and intensive care units, and educate health-care students and professionals to ensure they take advantage of organ donation opportunities while treating relatives with compassion.

The Transplant Manitoba-Gift of Life program is in charge of co-ordinating organ procurement in Manitoba, and its medical director Dr. Peter Nickerson said the funding is a much-needed boost.

"What we’re doing here is really stepping it up to the next level," he said.

Currently 200 people are on the waiting list for various organs in Manitoba and demand is far exceeding supply.

"We’re not meeting their need at this point. We can do better," he said.

The funding will help relieve the burden of overworked critical care physicians who are in charge of caring for organ donors and supporting their families, while also responsible for an entire ward of patients. Nickerson said the new team of critical care specialists will be on call to focus exclusively on assessing donors, maintaining their health care and addressing family members’ questions and concerns. Countries with this type of program show increased rates of organ donation, he said.

Currently only 30 to 40 per cent of eligible donors actually provide organs, Nickerson said. This is due to a lack of education on two levels.

Doctors don’t always recognize all the instances in which a brain-dead patient can be an organ donor. More education for professionals is needed, Nickerson said. That will be part of the mandate of the new specialist team.

The team will also be out educating the public about the importance of signing the organ donor cards that go along with driver’s licences and the new Manitoba health cards. Making your wishes clear to family members is imperative, said Nickerson. Often families don’t know what their loved one wanted, which deters them from allowing organs to be harvested.

The program is the first of its kind in Canada and builds on a larger provincial strategy that has seen organ donation increases in Manitoba over the past few years. It is also in line with a national organ donation strategy being developed by Canadian Blood Services.

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