‘Opt out organ donation just makes sense’.
Today Show Newsreader Sylvia Jeffreys has made a strong case for an opt out organ donation system in Australia after meeting a 5-year-old Sydney girl who will need a heart transplant in the future.
Eva Pym is five years old. She suffers from a rare chromosomal heart condition that means her heart is too big for her body. She was born with it and, unfortunately, unless she recieves a transplant, her heart will one day give up on her.
But here’s the cruel catch that a lot of people in need of an organ transplant know: she can’t get on the waiting list until her heart condition deteriorates further.
And getting on the transplant list does not gurantee hope for little Eva.
“Kids with similar heart conditions have died waiting for a transplant” her father Daniel told the Today show.
So what can be done? Her parents Daniel and Katherine Pym, along with the host’s of the Today show believe that an opt out organ donation system would work better than the current opt in system.
“It’s too hard to figure out if you need it on your driver’s license or if you need to register or if your family needs to make a decision on your deathbed,” Eva’s dad Daniel Pym told Jeffreys.
“We need to do something better to have a big change in the result so that 24 million Australians don’t need to jump on the internet and opt-in.”
Watch them speak about it here:
Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson agreed with Jeffreys.
“[An opt-out system] only shifts the duty of registering online from the vast majority of Australians who want to donate, which is about 80 percent, to the very small minority, it just makes sense.”
We couldn’t agree more. There are over 1600 Australians on the organ and tissue waiting list at any given time. That’s not including adults and kids like Eva who need to be on the list and aren’t yet classified as ‘sick enough’. Currently only 16 people out of every million Australians donate their organs.
Something needs to be done- and an opt out system seems like the best idea. Afterall – there is no pressure, just more lives saved.
Top Comments
I don't need my organs when I'm dead do I??? Take them all and give some one else a chance - I think the 'opt-out' system is a much better option, if people feel so strongly about not donating then they will opt-out won't they. I hope all goes well Eva Pym and her family xx
I disagree with an opt out system. Your body is your own, it does not belong to the State, no matter how much Governments would like to believe this. Better education about organ donation is needed, but I guess the odd story (as seen on Oprah) where the doctors were about to remove a teenage boy from life support to be used as an organ donor, when a nurse saw his leg move doesn't help.
Susie, this is the problem. Your body DOESNT belong to the state? You just "opt-out" rather than the current system of registering to be an organ donor. Our son is 18 months old and is currently alive due to being connected to a Berlin heart..which is a mechanical heart essentially. He needs a heart transplant and having an opt out systems gives us better hope he will have a future. Stories on Oprah are few and far between..our story is a living nightmare we endure every day. We hope ours ends with triumph rather than tragedy..but it won't happen with people continually being misinformed about organ and tissue donation.
I disagree. If a person forgets to opt out, then technically, the hospital can go 'full throttle' with your dead body even if that was never your wish. Perhaps the answer is easier registration to be an organ donor, but I think for some people they cannot face their own mortality and would prefer not to think about donating their organs. I still believe education and ad campaigns could be just as effective.
Registering to be an organ donor is already very easy. Opting out would be just as simple. If you forget to do it, then that's your fault. The doctors would likely still talk to the families and they could voice the deceased's wishes; that already happens now, with families able to veto the deceased's choice to be an organ donor.
There has been an increase in Australian of advertising about organ donation, but a decline in registration. Something needs to change, and opt-out systems have been successful in countries like Spain and Austria.