ONLY one third of residents on the Mornington Peninsula are registered as organ donors. Australian Organ Donor Register data shows that 33 per cent of residents in the Mornington Peninsula Shire local government area are registered organ donors. There were 1254 registrations in 2023, down from 1393 in 2022.
In the neighbouring Frankston municipality only 28 per cent of residents are registered organ donors. The Kingston municipality fared even worse, with only 24 per cent of residents signed up.
This week is DonateLife Week – to mark the occasion, DonateLife is encouraging people to sign up as organ donors and potentially save lives. DonateLife Victoria state medical director Dr Rohit D’Costa said “I’m urging everyone in Victoria to please register as an organ and tissue donor.”
“Our dedicated organ donation teams across Victoria work tirelessly to maximise every opportunity to save a life through transplant. But the reality is, there simply aren’t enough donors in Victoria to match the waitlist,” he said.
There are around 1800 Australians currently on the organ donation waitlist. Last year 361 people received organ transplants, and 142 people died and became organ donors.
Danielle Griffiths is part of the DonateLife team working with Peninsula Health across Frankston and Rosebud Hospitals. She said she is “in awe of the generosity of families to think of others during their time of grief by consenting to donation as well as seeing firsthand the lifesaving effects of liver transplantation.”
“There was an increase in organ and tissue donors at Peninsula Health since the COVID pandemic, with 17 families generously consenting to organ and tissue donation. This helped save the lives of 20 complete strangers through organ donation and transforming the lives of many more through eye and tissue donation,” she said. “I enjoy empowering and supporting families to make a donation decision that’s right for them.
Listening to families share stories of their loved ones including their wishes at end of life. I enjoy working in collaboration with the wider hospital team inclusive of nurses, doctors, allied health and executive staff to support organ and tissue donation as an end-of-life care option for patients at Peninsula Health.”
To register as an organ donor visit donatelife.gov.au or use the Express Plus Medicare app.
First published in the Mornington News – 30 July 2024
