The National Department of Health, concerned that many people lose their lives due to the unavailability of organs that could save them, has launched a campaign to help people realise that volunteering to donate their organs while alive or after death can be life-changing, reports Wyndham Hartley for Legalbrief Policy Watch. It calls on South Africans to help save lives through organ donation (including blood and tissues).
“As the country joins the global community to commemorate the campaign to raise awareness about the significance of organ transplant and donation, we appeal to the public to embrace the gift of life through organ donation,” the department said in a statement.
“Currently, SA has around 2 780 people wait-listed for organ donations and transplants, which includes kidneys, liver, hearts and lungs, while about 189 people died while waiting for someone to gift them with a life-saving organ during the same period. These waiting lists are growing while more people, and young children, are dying almost daily while waiting for organs,” the department said.
It added: “Although the wider public is aware of blood donation, there is little knowledge about organ donation. We don’t believe lack of organ donation or involvement has anything to do with cultural and religious beliefs, but (rather) limited knowledge, hence the department has joined hands with stakeholders, such as the Organ Donation Foundation, and civil society organisations in the sector, to raise and sustain awareness about this important campaign.”
Government statement on organ donation (Open access)
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