Summit says organ donors should be reimbursed

Aug 18 2008

At an organ donation summit in Perth this week a scheme to reimburse organ donors has been proposed.

The suggestion by Kidney Health Australia is that living organ donors should be reimbursed for lost income during their recovery time and that governments should contribute towards organ donors' funerals.

According to Kidney Health living donors could be out of pocket to the tune of $6,000 but could save tax payers about $80,000 annually for the cost of maintaining someone on dialysis; the organisation has called on all states to support the Western Australian plan.

Kidney Health says the proposals are not incentive payments but are about recouping costs that in some situations amount to many thousands of dollars and the move could encourage more donors to come forward.

The organ donation summit has made 43 recommendations one of which is that the Western Australia Government should help the families of donors meet funeral expenses which has been promoted and endorsed by the State Health Minister, Jim McGinty.

McGinty says this would be a way of recognising a tremendous act of generosity, the gift of life.

Mr McGinty says details would need to be worked out but paying families of donors between $5000 and $10,000 towards the funeral would not be unreasonable.

The summit has brought together organ donor families, recipients, clinicians and ethics experts and other recommendations include allowing organ donations from people who have died from heart attacks and educating school children about organ donation.

Summit participants did not however appear to overwhelmingly endorse an opt-out donation scheme everyone would be deemed an organ donor unless they registered otherwise.

In 2007 nineteen people donated their organs after death in WA - so far this year there have only been nine donors.

According to experts over a hundred people are currently waiting for a kidney, liver, heart or lung transplant in WA.