Improving organ donation in Canada

Wayne Kondro has pointed out the weaknesses in our organ donation programs in Canada.¹ In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services vigorously took up the challenge of increasing organ donation rates. It established the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative to increase the likelihood that initiatives to improve organ donation rates will be successful. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established conditions of participation designed to enhance organ donation in all hospitals that treat Medicare patients in the United States. These efforts have been highly effective.

Although the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation has made some efforts, there has not been a significant increase in organ donation rates in Canada and our organ donation system is still fragmented. Although there are different provincial health jurisdictions in Canada, we do have universal health services in this country, which provide a platform for collaboration between the provinces and territories. I believe that people's generosity and altruism will eventually overcome the barriers between jurisdictions.

A national centre for donation and transplantation would be able to oversee all aspects of transplantation in Canada, could work to gain the public's trust in allocating organs and could communicate efficiently with authorities in each province and terrority. We need a major “transplantation” in Canada if we want to match the success of the US United Network for Organ Sharing.