First of all, I would like to pay tribute to the ambassadors for organ donation, to our friends the transplanted athletes who attend National and International sports events simply to say thank you to the donors and doctors, to proclaim the joy of living and as a proof of renewed life thanks to organ donation.
The rate of organ donation continues to decrease at a disastrous rate.

In most countries where legislation allows organs to be removed without next of kin consent (unless a specific refusal has been registered prior to death), the next of kin are always asked for permission. In countries where people can register their willingness to donate an organ after their death, the next of kin are always asked for permission. If the possible donor has, during life, registered consent (called opting in) the next of kin always say yes. lf the possible donor has not, refusal rates in various countries are between 20 and 60%.
 

In spite of the extraordinary generosity of many peoplewhich resulted in numerous transplantations last year, a great many organs are still not donated. Imagine that you have discovered a medicine which will cure a terrible illness and that a certain amount of this medicine is destroyed every day!

The same goes for organs. We have the cure, we are mastering the techniques and the treatments, aeroplanes are ready to take off, surgeons are ready to operate and yet every day, there is the same scandal: an adult, a child who we could have saved dies. It is a nightmare and nobody complains about it. We lack the vital organs -a heart, a liver, a lung, a kidney. We are powerless witnesses of an increasing refusal to donate organs and a refusal even to speak of it.

Today, transplantation is no longer a medical problem but a human one. A moral question. Yet faced with a dangerous and unforseen illness, would we refuse somebody's heart if it would keep us alive, or save the life of someone close to us? Of course not.

So where does this fear come from? Why is there this resistance?

Likewise in the matter of the economics of the health services. Everybody is well aware that transplantation is a finely tuned medical technique which enables people to regain near normal health and an extraordinary quality of life. Everybody knows that it is also a technique which is by far the least costly to society. So why are there no budgets for progressive medical campaigns to educate and form public opinion?

Why is there this lack of decision?

What should be done? Hold more of these National and International sports events? Work on the sports field to inform the public? Educate young people? Probably all these things at once with the continuous involvement of the National Associations and the efforts of individuals; all of which is surpassed by the example and the courage of those who have agreed to give - not just to doctors but to society.

This combined display of joy and life should give us, before we are faced with a terrible fate, good reason to consider this question of organ donation and, why not? A reason to carry with us a little signed card saying "Organ donation: I say, Yes".

My friend, my organ, my brother, my donor - if you did not exist, tell me how I could exist?

With best wishes,

Olivier Coustere

 

Last modified: 11 May 2000