Organ Donation and Transplant Rates in Australia
Organ donation and transplant rates in Australia have been increasing in recent years. Statistics and fact sheets can be found on the DonateLife website at the link below:
Australian Transplant Waiting List
The National Organ Matching Service release statistics every month which show the active number of Australians waiting for an organ transplant. At 31 March 2017 the numbers were as follows:
| 0-14yrs | 15-29yrs | 30-44yrs | 45-59yrs | 60-69yrs | 70-79yrs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart | 3 | 8 | 10 | 34 | 21 | 0 | 76 |
| Intestine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Kidney | 13 | 71 | 239 | 375 | 240 | 42 | 980 |
| Liver | 14 | 11 | 13 | 56 | 41 | 1 | 136 |
| Lung | 1 | 11 | 16 | 47 | 45 | 2 | 122 |
| Pancreas | 0 | 1 | 34 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 53 |
| Pancreas Islets | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| Total Patients | 34 | 104 | 316 | 531 | 354 | 45 | 1,384 |
The Australian Paediatric Liver Transplant Experience
In July 2016, Liver Kids Australia held a Conference and Family Day which included presentations from leading Australian experts. You can see some of the presentations by clicking on the links below:
Libby Mutimer: My Journey: Childhood to Adulthood with Liver Disease and Transplant
Libby Mutimer received a liver transplant in 1988. She was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia when she was 5 weeks old and after undergoing 2 Kasai operations, Libby’s family was told her only chance of survival was a lifesaving liver transplant. At the age of 2 years, Libby was just the 4th child to receive a cut down liver transplant.
Dr Michael Bowden is a Consultant Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatrist with almost 30 years' experience working in Psychiatry. He is a Senior Staff Specialist and Head of Department of Psychological Medicine at the Children's Hospital Westmead. Dr Bowden spoke on the family impact of childhood liver transplants.
Dr Scott Nightingale: Paediatric Liver Disease: The Future
Dr Scott Nightingale is a paediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist based at John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, NSW. Scott’s liver research interests include biliary atresia and he is currently collaborating in a number of international multicentre drug trials for hepatitis C infection and a rare metabolic liver disease known as lysosomal acid lipase.
Dr Angela Mackenzie: Helping Children through Medical Procedures
Dr Angela Mackenzie is a compassionate and dedicated paediatrician with over 25 years experience, and a sought after child pain specialist, hypnotherapist, speaker and author. Her driving force is helping young children learn to cope with medical procedures and the demands of modern healthcare, by educating their parents, caregivers and healthcare providers.
Dr Michael Stormon: Immunosuppression. For Life? Or Not?
Dr Michael Stormon MBBS, FRACP is a Paediatric Hepatologist and Liver Transplant Physician. He is the Senior Staff Specialist in the Department of Gastroenterology at The Children’s Hospital Westmead in Sydney.
Dr Albert Shun: Thirty Years of Australian Paediatric Liver Transplant
Dr Shun is the Head of the Liver and Renal Transplantation Unit at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and recognised internationally as one of the leaders in the field.
