The number fluctuates yearly but the average over the past decade has been 150. Putting hospital medical staff in charge of asking families to donate their loved ones' organs has never worked in Ontario or anywhere else it has been tried. Medical staff are trained to save lives, not admit they've failed. But the province's new system to improve organ donation will continue to leave that task to hospital staff. The need for organs is skyrocketing.
New techniques mean far more people are eligible for transplants than ever before.
As well, the hepatitis C epidemic alone will increase the demand for liver transplants by at least 500 per cent over the next decade. An aging population also means more people with hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes who will need kidney transplants. But that still doesn't cover the cost of keeping transplant doctors on call around the clock, or of opening additional emergency rooms and intensive care beds to handle donors and recipients. And it doesn't cover the costs of home care and anti-rejection drugs for transplant recipients or research and teaching, according to the task force report. We have to find ways to constantly bring this to the forefront.