BC Transplant Society

Last updated
BC Transplant
Formation1985
Headquarters Vancouver
Location
  • 206 - 1770 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.
ServicesOrgan Donor Registration
Province-wide pre & post-transplant services
medical research
Membership (2016)
1,037,807 registered donors [1]
Parent organization
 Provincial Health Services Authority
Website transplant.bc.ca

BC Transplant (BCT) founded in 1985 is now an agency of Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in the Canadian province of British Columbia that registers consent to be donors of organs for organ transplantation.

Contents

A record-breaking 563 people received organ transplants in 2023 thanks to the generosity of a record 160 deceased organ donors and their families and 77 living donors.

Now more than 6100 British Columbians are alive today because of organ donation.

While about 90 per cent of the general public support the donation idea, only about a third of British Columbians are registered. [2] Twelve per cent of organ donors in B.C. are non-Caucasian donors, a slightly higher ethnicity rate than the national average of 9 per cent. [3]

In addition to managing the provincial organ donor registry, BCT transports donated organs within the province and also to other Canadian provinces. BCT also manages policies, standards and guidelines for transplants and funds regional health programs for pre-transplant and post-transplant services.

BC Transplant continues to invest in foundational elements to support health partners to increase donation and transplantation. This includes education of health care professionals and donation physicians and a robust network of in-hospital transplant coordinators. Hospital referrals of potential deceased donors reached a record 989 times in 2023, which is up 13 per cent from the previous year of 875 referrals.

B.C.'s deceased donors per million rate is 28.8, making it the leader in Canada and placing it amongst the top jurisdictions in the world for deceased donation. This is testament to the work BC Transplant has done, together with all the donor hospital teams around the province, to build the systems and infrastructure capacity of organ donation and transplant programs, and to normalize conversations around organ donation.

B.C. was the first province in Canada to establish an official organ donor registry, and the first to introduce technology that allows residents to register completely online with a digital signature. Partnerships with Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) and Service BC make it possible for British Columbians to easily register their decision on organ donation at Service BC and ICBC locations across the province.

Transplant Types

B.C. is one of five provinces that have programs to increase organ donations from people who die of heart failure, if the family of the fatal patient agrees. [3]

Liver transplant

Liver transplants in B.C. have improved in the 21st century. 1989 was the start of liver transplants in B.C. Low performance rates resulted in researcher evaluation.

Locations

Transplant Centres are located at:

Regional Clinics are located at:

History

Created in 1985.

In 1986, BCT was the first organization in North America to combine organ donation registry and transplantation. [2]

In 1991, BCT established its annual Operation Popcorn project which delivers popcorn tins to appreciate health care workers for more than 25 years. [4]

In 1992, BCT established Transplant Research Foundation of British Columbia (TRF) with funding and administrative support. [5]

In 1997, BCT created North America's first online organ registration service for public access. [2]

In 2001, the new government of Premier Gordon Campbell added BCT and other province-wide specialized health service societies to be agencies of the newly created Provincial Health Services Authority.

In 2012, the province's rate of living(19.6 per million) and deceased(15.2/million) donors exceeded the national averages (16.3 and 13.6 respectively). [2] The BC rate is an increase from previous years. For example, in 2009 there were just 7.2/million deceased donors in BC. [6]

A 2012 Miss Universe Canada winner included BC Transplant as one of her charity promotions due to a cousin donating his heart. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ donation</span> Process of voluntarily giving away organs

Organ donation is the process when a person authorizes an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive, through a legal authorization for deceased donation made prior to death, or for deceased donations through the authorization by the legal next of kin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ transplantation</span> Medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transported from a donor site to another location. Organs and/or tissues that are transplanted within the same person's body are called autografts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are called allografts. Allografts can either be from a living or cadaveric source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Blood Services</span>

Canadian Blood Services is a non-profit charitable organization that is independent from the Canadian government. The Canadian Blood Services was established as Canada's blood authority in all provinces and territories except for Quebec in 1998. The federal, provincial and territorial governments created the Canadian Blood Services through a memorandum of understanding. Canadian Blood Services is funded mainly through the provincial and territorial governments.

Eye banks recover, prepare and deliver donated eyes for cornea transplants and research. The first successful cornea transplant was performed in 1905 and the first eye bank was founded in 1944. Currently, in the United States, eye banks provide tissue for over 80,000 cornea transplants each year to treat conditions such as keratoconus and corneal scarring. In some cases, the white of the eye (sclera) is used to surgically repair recipient eyes. Unlike other organs and tissues, corneas are in adequate supply for transplants in the United States, and excess tissue is exported internationally, where there are shortages in many countries, due to greater demand and a less-developed eye banking infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Network for Organ Sharing</span>

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a non-profit scientific and educational organization that administers the only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in the United States, established by the U.S. Congress in 1984 by Gene A. Pierce, founder of United Network for Organ Sharing. Located in Richmond, Virginia, the organization's headquarters are situated near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurance Corporation of British Columbia</span> Provincial crown corporation in British Columbia

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is a provincial Crown corporation in British Columbia providing vehicle insurance. ICBC was created in 1973 by the NDP government of Premier Dave Barrett.

NHS Blood and Transplant is an executive special health authority of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established on 1 October 2005 to take over the responsibilities of two separate NHS agencies: UK Transplant, founded by Dr. Geoffrey Tovey in 1972, and the National Blood Service. Its remit is to provide a reliable, efficient supply of blood, organs and associated services to the NHS. Since NHSBT was established, the organisation has maintained or improved the quality of the services delivered to patients, stabilised the rising cost of blood, and centralised a number of corporate services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organ transplantation in China</span>

Organ transplantation in China has taken place since the 1960s, and is one of the largest organ transplant programmes in the world, peaking at over 13,000 liver and kidney transplants a year in 2004.

The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) is one of five regional public health authorities in British Columbia. It is governed by the provincial Health Authorities Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Organ Transplant Act of 1984</span>

The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984 is an Act of the United States Congress that created the framework for the organ transplant system in the country. The act provided clarity on the property rights of human organs obtained from deceased individuals and established a public-private partnership known as Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). The OPTN was given the authority to oversee the national distribution of organs.

The Healthcare Systems Bureau is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Columbian Hospital</span> Hospital in British Columbia, Canada

Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) is among the oldest hospitals in British Columbia and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority. It is located in New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River and is the only hospital in the Lower Mainland that is immediately adjacent to a Skytrain station (Sapperton).

The Ontario Online Donor Registry is a website where Ontario residents, age 16 and older, can register their consent to be an organ and tissue donor. This registry was created to help ease questions and ambiguities with organ donor wishes. The virtual registry also increases Ontario donations with increased accessibility. The registration process can be done through beadonor.ca. Online donor registries have also become popular in the United States, where one can register through Donate Life America; Malaysia, registering through their National Transplant Registry; and Saudi Arabia, registering through the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Eby</span> Premier of British Columbia since 2022

David Robert Patrick Eby is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the 37th and current premier of British Columbia since November 18, 2022, and has been serving as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) since October 21, 2022. A member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Eby has represented the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey since 2013. From 2017 to 2022, he served in the John Horgan cabinet as attorney general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 is an act of the National Assembly for Wales, passed in July 2013. It permits an opt-out system of organ donation, known as presumed consent, or deemed consent. The act allows hospitals to presume that people aged 18 or over, who have been resident in Wales for over 12 months, want to donate their organs at their death, unless they have objected specifically. The act varies the Law of England and Wales in Wales, which relied on an opt-in system; whereby only those who have signed the NHS organ donation register, or whose families agreed, were considered to have consented to be organ donors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOHAN Foundation</span>

MOHAN Foundation is a not-for-profit, registered non-government charity organisation in India that works in the field of deceased organ donation and transplantation. MOHAN is an acronym for Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network. It has offices in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Jaipur and information centers at Kerala and Imphal.

Organ donation is when a person gives their organs after they die to someone in need of new organs. Transplantation is the process of transplanting the organs donated into another person. This process extends the life expectancy of a person suffering from organ failure. The number of patients requiring organ transplants outweighs the number of donor organs available.

The Trillium Gift of Life Network was an agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for the province's organ donation strategy, promotion, and supply. Ronnie Gavsie was the President & CEO. The agency maintained the popular BeADonor.ca website. It was subsequently subsumed under Ontario Health in 2019.

Organ transplantation in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is regulated by India's Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 and is facilitated by the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) of the Government of Tamil Nadu and several NGOs. Tamil Nadu ranks first in India in deceased organ donation rate at 1.8 per million population, which is seven times higher than the national average.

Organ donation in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994. The law allows both deceased and living donors to donate their organs. It also identifies brain death as a form of death. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) functions as the apex body for activities of relating to procurement, allotment and distribution of organs in the country.

References

  1. ↑ "Current Statistics". transplant.bc.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "BCT Background PDF" (PDF). transplant.bc.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Ellis, Erin (2014-12-19). "B.C. falls below national organ donation rates, despite increases". Vancouver Sun . Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Hinzmann, Christine (2016-12-07). "Operation Popcorn gives thanks to healthcare workers". Prince George Citizen.
  5. ↑ "Our Story (TRF)". trfbc.org. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Waters, Shannon (2016-02-27). "BC SEES DECEASED ORGAN DONATION DOUBLE OVER SIX YEARS". Prince George Citizen . Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Hopkins, Michelle (2012-06-04). "Bully victim turned beauty queen palmer grad wins miss universe canada". Richmond News. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.