The following statement was issued today by Loyola Sullivan, acting Minister of Health and Community Services. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

In recognition of National Organ Donor and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, I rise today to bring to your attention an issue that touches thousands of Canadians every year, an issue that may indeed touch many of us, our friends, families and loved ones here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This coming week is Canada's National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week. It�s a time which gives us the opportunity to bring the issue of organ and tissue donation to the forefront, and a chance to increase awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation in our province.

Although in Canada we have some of the best transplant technology in the world, some of the most highly skilled surgeons, and some of the most prestigious transplant hospitals, there are never enough organs. Research shows that only about 15 out of every one million Canadians are organ donors � putting us as a country in the bottom half of all of the countries in the western world where transplants are performed.

This isn�t good enough.

Recently in our local news we heard a very touching story about a mother who donated part of her liver to her ailing son. She saved his life, but if she wasn�t a match for her son, he would have had to look elsewhere and hope another donor could be found. Some children and adults wait years and years for an organ only to eventually die because there wasn�t one.

According to Health Canada, there are currently 3,987 Canadians waiting for organ transplants and thousands more are in need of tissues. Unfortunately, while almost 2,000 transplants were performed in Canada in the year 2000, nearly 150 Canadians die every year while waiting for a suitable donor organ. Here at home we have 48 people waiting for kidney transplants and six who need new livers. Yet indicators show that the numbers of donors in Newfoundland and Labrador decrease every year. In Atlantic Canada our rate of donation is lower than in other parts of the country.

Statistics indicate that anywhere from 20-30 per cent of people currently waiting for organs will die before a suitable organ becomes available.

I urge the residents of this province to sign their drivers licences or fill out organ donor cards agreeing to donate their organs in the event of death. It is equally important to make your wishes known to your loved ones. A decision to become an organ donor could truly mean giving the gift of life.

2005 04 14                     1:55 p.m.