LifeSharers
LifeSharers Newsletter
Welcome
to our first newsletter since our launch last month.
Membership
There was
fantastic response to our launch of LifeSharers. In our first week we had the
same amount of registrations that the
New registrations
have gone down to a trickle now, for LifeSharers to be effective we need as
many people joining the network as possible. If you know of people who may be
interested in joining please pass on the website address to them (www.lifesharers.org.nz) it is free to
join and it may save their life, or someone close to them. It is easy to send
an email template letter to them via the website. Click here
Do you need a transplant?
Please let us know
if you are on the transplant waiting list as you receive first priority on
other members’ organs should they become available. (After the initial 6 month
stand down period.)
It was suggested
in one TV interview that LifeSharers would be flooded with registrations from
people on the waiting list. Presently the number of members on the waiting list
is 0.3%. The
Of course we
welcome those on the transplant waiting list to join. We welcome everyone, no
one is excluded, and it is free and always will be.
Talking of doom
& gloom and even more reason to be a LifeSharers member are figures
released recently on the number of organ donors in
Around 50% of
potential donors in ICU do not become donors due to the person or the family
saying no. Only 42% of drivers have ‘donor’ on their licence.
Though you could
bet that 99% of people would accept an organ if they needed one!
Why join if you
have ‘donor’ on your licence?
Though you may have ‘donor’ on your licence it is not
legally binding and your licence is not checked, nor is the LTSA database in
the event of your death. As many Parliamentarians have pointed out, it is
totally useless having it on your driving licence. A question I still can not
get an answer to is why is it a compulsory question, that must be answered on your application form, if it is an ‘indication’ of your wishes only?
Why did we form
LifeSharers?
For over six years we have been fighting a campaign
for a reform of the organ donor system, as
See our website www.givelife.org.nz
In 2002 I took a petition to Parliament which led to
an inquiry; unfortunately the government did no act on many of the
recommendations. I then worked with National MP Jackie Blue on a Private
Members Bill which called for a legally binding organ donor register. This
would mean if you registered as a donor (or as a non donor) others could not
overturn your wishes. This was thrown out of Parliament in favour of
the government bill which gives even more people even more right to overturn
your wishes!
Under the new law that will come into effect shortly
people will be able to overturn your wish to be a donor on ‘Spiritual, cultural or distress grounds.’
Then the government ditched the planned organ donor
register that it promised at the 2005 election. The Chief Medical Advisor
explained the reason for ditching the register by saying that ‘We’ are ‘not capable’ of making the decision to be a donor.
Most other countries in the world believe that their
citizens ‘are’ capable of making that
decision, but apparently in NZ we are not. I then decided to go ahead with the
LifeSharers scheme (something I had been working on for 2 years in association
with the USA LifeSharers group.)
Funeral
costs for organ donors?
Another area I have been pushing for, without much
success recently is for all organ donors’ funeral costs to be paid for. One
organ donor can save the life of and/or improve the quality of life for up to
ten people. An organ donor saves the medical system a lot of money by getting
people off expensive dialysis machines and other expensive treatments. I would
have thought the least that that the government could do was show their
appreciation by paying for the funeral costs? Maybe more people would be
prepared to be a donor if they knew their family would not have the extra
burden of funeral costs at an already traumatic time? It’s election year so I
may have some success with this idea yet, though I’m not holding my breath!
Therefore I am investigating the legalities of doing
so for LifeSharers members only. Reading through the legislation it seems
perfectly legal for me to make a contribution to a LifeSharers Members’ funeral
costs if that member donates an organ to another member. This will be an added
incentive for people to join the LifeSharers Network. I am still awaiting a
response from the Minister of Health to my initiative and will let everyone
know in my next newsletter. Hopefully it will be reported in the media as well.
All going well I would at first make a contribution
towards funeral costs and if we can get some sponsorship/donations we may be
able to up that to covering the full cost. However running this as a private
venture with no sponsorship at present I can not afford to do this out of my
own pocket. If you know of any companies/individuals who would be interested in
sponsoring such a scheme or making a donation please pass this newsletter onto
them or they can contact me via the LifeSharers
Website.
Donations
LifeSharers
is run by the Tookey family in
Testimonials
At
the top of the LifeSharers homepage are many testimonials from eminent people.
Most are from the
News Articles
Any
articles about LifeSharers in the Media will be added to the website in the Press Room I have
recently added the TV news items that covered the launch of LifeSharers if you
missed them the first time around. The only criticism that I recall was from
the Medical Director of the organ donor service (I would have thought they
would welcome any initiative that was legal, fair and morally right to increase
our third world organ donor rates.) However we have to keep in perspective that
the comments came from one, part time doctor of the organ donor service
that only has four other staff, so is not representative of the whole medical
profession.
New Members
Needed!
Just
a reminder that for LifeSharers to be successful we need as many members as
possible! Please pass on our website details (www.lifesharers.org.nz) to friends,
families and colleagues.
If
you change address or email please remember to login to the website and update
your details. If you have lost your login or password details send us an email to have them re-sent
to you.
Please
also put info@lifesharers.org.nz
in your ‘white list’ so that emails/newsletter doesn’t get automatically put in
your junk email folder or Xtra’s Spam Filter.
Feel
free to email us if you have any
comments, suggestions or questions about LifeSharers or organ donation in
general.
Kind
Regards
Andy
Tookey
Director
LifeSharers
NZ