Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine various reasons why some people agree to participate in organ donation while others do not. Furthermore, the paper will discuss the death rates that have been raising Australia due to lack of organ donors. In this regard, the research points out that the most informed people have no problem discussing their death or organ transplants while those that are uninformed rely on fictional TV dramas and Ick factors to disregard organ donation. Religion has also been considered as a topic for this discussion because while other denominations believe in acts of mercy, others argue that it is essential to maintain body integrity. Lastly, the study will examine research from other countries so as to give suitable recommendations that can help curb the alarming death rates. Some of the recommendations include campaigns that will sensitize people on the importance of organ donation and legislations such as the opt-out law that make every citizen an organ donor by default.
Introduction
According to research, there are more than 1,590 patients in Australia awaiting organ transplants. Notably, this figure is expanding since a total of 268 people are added to the list every month. Over 6 percent of these individuals include children under the age of 18 years. Sadly, at least eight people die due to lack of compatible organs. Fortunately, citizens have the ability to reduce these huge numbers through organ donation. According to statistics, an organ transplant increases the survival rate of a patient from 20 percent to 80 percent (Chang, Campbell, and McDonald 2007). The gift of life is the most incredible gift that a person can ever give to someone as they pass on since, after death, no one ever needs their organs. In other words, it not right to deny another person the chance to live when you are in a position to help. In 2015, more than 430 citizens in Australia and New Zealand donated their organs and tissues giving a total of 1,241 patients a chance to live longer. The overall donation rate in Australia was 18.3 donors per one million people in 2015.
Findings
Why People Participate In Organ Donation
While it's hard to think about what may happen to your body after you have passed on, it is dreadful to think that some body parts will remain attached and active on another person. Various individuals who understand the burden of waiting upon a well-wisher for a major organ have registered themselves as organ donors across Australia. According to our research, we found out that although Australia has been said to have the lowest consent in organ and tissue donations, it is actually competing with other leading countries. Statistics show that Australia stands at 57%, Spain at 82%, U.S at 50% and France at 63% (Reese, Boudville, and Garg 2015). Some of the leading states in Australia in donation rates per million populations are shown in the table below
Primarily, this research established that in 2015, 435 donors in Australia gave 1,303 organs, which helped to save live. The information is shown in the table below.
Educated and more informed people understand that when they go to a hospital for treatment, physicians concentrate on saving their life and not that of somebody else at the moment (Grace, Clayton, Cass, and McDonald, 2013). Other people are also aware that when they register as organ donors, doctors will tend to offer them more tests to confirm that they are dead when compared to those who do not sign up. Notably, this saves one’s family a lot of heartaches since there are people who have been declared dead and taken to the mortuary only to start wiggling their toes and fingers. Additionally, many Islam, Protestants, and other religious believers are aware of their responsibility to show acts of mercy at all times.
Why People Do Not Participate In Organ Donation
There is a large disparity between the number of individuals who support organ donations and the number of those that register as organ donors. For instance, 90 percent of the current Australian population supports donation while only a third of them register as donors. According to our research, the number of willing organ and tissue donors drastically fell despite a heavy investment of $240 million from the government to support programs designed to increase donors. One of the most cited cause for not participating for organ donation include mistrust in the medical field and lack of clear clarification and understanding of brain death. Most citizens say that they would not donate organs to their next of kin as long as their heart is still beating. Additionally, few people trust medical practitioners due to bad personal experiences between patients and their physicians (Macdonald, Aneman, Bhonagiri, Jones, and Dobb 2013). According to our study, a person who perceives ill-treatment to their loved one during their final days is most likely to reject the organ.
Another reason that makes people refuse to register as donors is due to the misconception that if a doctor realizes an individual is a registered organ donor, he or she will not do everything in their power to save one’s life. Various interviews that have been conducted show that most citizens get such misleading information from various television programs and fictional medical dramas. For instance, most people who watch Grey’s Anatomy show view the images as realistic and this builds up patient-doctor mistrusts.
On the other hand, religion has been a named as one of the major contributing factors to this scenario. Although research shows that many Christians consider organ donation as an act of love and selflessness, many Catholics will not give away their organs regardless of the Vatican’s support. It seems that many Catholics are against organ donation due to the belief of the afterlife and the fact that they would wish to maintain body integrity.
Some other people dread talking about death as they believe that talking about how one would wish to die brings about death eventually. Fundamentally, this has been popularly known as the "Ick" factor because some people are disgusted by responding to organ transplants or procurement. Such beliefs lead to fewer organ donors. Lastly, other people would prefer to have an open casket burial, and they fear that organ donation may interfere with it. In this regard, some individuals fear that some parts will be left hollow and this belief makes it hard for them to volunteer.
Conclusion
It is important to note that successful campaigns for organ donations will highly depend on public awareness on various controversial topics. Some of them include open casket burials, the Ick factors where discussion over death is considered as taboo and the brain death belief where people think that they might not be dead at the time the death declaration is made. Additionally, doctors ought to improve their relationships with their patients so that they can be trusted to have the best interests of their patient. It is the responsibility of the government to work in close collaboration with medical systems so that various agreements and rules can be established and made a law so as to reduce the death rates.
Recommendations on How to Increase the Rate of Participation
In essence, the masses need to be taught about various medical procedures that occur before and after organ donation so that they are not scared about the open casket burials or the controversial brain death issue. On the same note, organizations should help the society through education so as to dismiss the Ick factor, which is as a result of taboos and misconception. Organized tissue donation campaigns should be done so that it is considered as a cultural norm. Such campaigns should target the young, nurses, employees, and ethnic minorities.
Another strategy would be changing the current Australian medical system whereby every person is a donor by default unless they actively opted not to do it. Additionally, there should be an effective and efficient, well-coordinated hierarchical system to accompany the opt-out organ donation system. Primarily, this will help to establish trust between patients and their patients. Our study in Israel and Spain shows that this system is highly efficient in both countries as they have used it as a strategy to increase donor participation. These countries have the lowest number of people dying due to lack or organs.
At an extreme side, medical hospitals can also decide who receives organs. Notably, this can be done through establishing a system where only those who are registered donors will get an organ when need be. Although this strategy will be considered as compelling by many citizens, many people will register as donors, and it will help reduce the alarming number of deaths that happen every year. According to our study, the government of Israel has been effectively using this method.
List of References
Chang, SH, Campbell, SB. and McDonald, SP, 2007, Trends in kidney transplantation in Australia and New Zealand, 1993–2004. Transplantation, vol.84 no.5, pp.611-618.
Grace, BS, Clayton, PA., Cass, A, and McDonald, SP, 2013, Transplantation rates for living-but not deceased-donor kidneys vary with socioeconomic status in Australia. Kidney International, vol.83, no.1, pp.138-145.
Macdonald, PS, Aneman, AE, Bhonagiri, D, and Dobb, GJ, 2013, Assessment, Monitoring, and Management of Brain-Dead Potential Organ Donors in Australia. In The Brain-Dead Organ Donor. Springer New York, pp. 237-249.
Reese, PP, Boudville, N, and Garg, AX, 2015, Living kidney donation: Outcomes, ethics, and uncertainty. The Lancet, vol.385 no.81, pp.2003-2013.
