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Donate Life Week is campaigned by the Australian Government’s Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA). The awareness week was held from the 30th July to the 6th August, with the aim to open discussions about organ and tissue donation in Australia. Over the course of the week, staff from various Eastbrooke Medical Centres supported the program, which is designed to encourage individuals to register to donate as well as discuss the decision with their loved ones.
There are currently around 1,400 Australians on the organ transplant waiting list, and one tissue donor can help 10 or more people*. This simple decision to register can have huge effect on many patients struggling to enjoy their life, or potentially help those with life-threatening diseases.
Currently Australia is one of the world leaders for successful transplant outcomes, and the number of donors in the last year has been the highest nationally recorded number. But donation is still rare, and only 1% of hospital deaths actually allow for organ donation*.
Organ donation can be an unusual topic to bring up in everyday conversation, which is what originally founded the Donate Life Campaign Week. The OTA endeavours to encourage more engagement and more discussion about why one simple step can help you, or a loved one, save a number of lives.
Donate Life Week and the OTA also offered opportunities for businesses and organisations to hold events to raise awareness for the issue, which has encouraged many to get involved, start talking and take the next step.
There is still always time to get involved and continue to raise awareness for the Donate Life campaign, you can do this by simply:
References:
*http://www.donatelife.gov.au/discover/facts-and-statistics
http://www.donatelife.gov.au/about-us
https://register.donatelife.gov.au/decide
http://www.donatelife.gov.au/discuss
http://www.donatelife.gov.au/publications
http://www.donatelife.gov.au/news-events/news
