farmdoc's blog post number 680

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As Coco wrote yesterday, in Australia today’s the first day of autumn. Here on Farmdoc’s Blog I’ve waxed lyrical about autumn twice before [1, 2]. It’s my favourite season – a beautiful and mellow time here in Mole Creek. But its arrival also signals the end of the warm, full bloom of summer. And that winter’s on its way. Australia’s organ donation rate’s now among the lowest in the Western world (e.g. half the per capita rate in the US and Italy, and a third of Spain’s). I don’t know why it’s so low. In 2009, only 247 deceased Australians donated 889 organs to 799 recipients. At the start of 2010 there were some 1,700 Australians on official waiting lists waiting for the phone call that could save their life. Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week, aiming to increase our nation’s organ donor rate, ended yesterday. Its message? First discover the facts, then decide whether to donate, then discuss it with your family. Registering your consent and telling your family are the two most important things to ensure your wish to donate will be carried out. Would you accept an organ donation if you needed one? If so, then it’s worth thinking about being a donor. Check out the website [3]. It’s the least you can do – on this first day of autumn.