Alberta recorded its highest-ever number of deceased organ and tissue donors in 2024, with 317 people helping to save or improve hundreds of lives, Alberta Health Services said Tuesday.
According to AHS, a total of 423 organs were transplanted last year, marking the third consecutive year of growth in deceased donation rates. The province recorded 273 donors in 2023 and 248 in 2022.
In the news release, AHS quoted Calgary resident Mike Cahill, a 39-year-old kidney transplant recipient, as saying:
“My life was on hold. It felt like having a weight on every limb. It was hard to work up the willpower to go do anything.”
According to AHS, Cahill spent more than three years on at-home and in-clinic dialysis before receiving a life-saving kidney transplant from a deceased donor in 2024.
“They had all their life ahead of them, as well. I’m eternally grateful to their family. It definitely was a life-changing decision,” he said in the release.
More than 500 Albertans are currently waiting for a life-saving transplant, the health authority said.
AHS attributed the record-setting year to several clinical and legislative initiatives designed to support donor identification and consent processes.
The Specialist in End-of-Life Care, Neuroprognostication and Donation (SEND) program, launched in 2021, involves intensive care physicians working with hospital teams to improve end-of-life care and identify potential donors. According to AHS, the program has “helped to significantly reduce missed organ donation opportunities.”
In 2023, Bill 205 – Mandatory Referral legislation took effect, requiring hospitals to refer all dying patients who could be eligible to donate organs or tissues.
In 2024, Alberta’s donation program was rebranded as Give Life Alberta, and AHS launched a new website at GiveLifeAlberta.ca. The province also introduced the “All the Ways” public awareness campaign and added four senior donation consultants to work with hospital leadership on donation education and best practices.
“Donation and transplantation makes a huge difference for patients in need of organs or tissues. It can be life-saving. It can have a huge impact on patients’ quality of life,” said Dr. Andreas Kramer, Medical Director of Give Life Alberta, in the AHS release.
“Donation can also provide families with some comfort during a time of great loss,” Kramer said. “The fact that we’re able to provide that option for more families is good news.”
AHS said one organ donor can save up to eight lives, while a tissue donor can help or save as many as 75 people.
Albertans can register their intent to donate at GiveLifeAlberta.ca or at a motor vehicle registry office. AHS noted that family members must still provide consent at the time of death.
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