Wanted: More organ donors, say Newfoundland & Labrador politicians

A dedicated effort is underway to try and get more residents of Newfoundland and Labrador to sign up for organ donation. 

It comes, appropriately, during National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week.

In marking the event in the House of Assembly on Friday, politicians mulled over ways to get more people on the donor list.

Currently, the onus is on a person to sign a donor card, or to check a box on their provincial driver's licence.

Liberal MHA Andrew Parsons said it should be the other way around.

"There's a presumption that if you don't fill it out, that you're not a donor," said Parsons.

"We're suggesting that maybe we examine if you don't fill it out, that you're presumed to be consenting to donating."

Parsons said that's the process in several European countries, including Austria — where the consent rate is almost 100 per cent.

The Organ Procurement Exchange of Newfoundland and Labrador says there are approximately 4,000 people on the list for transplants in Canada.

It's estimated about 250 of them will die waiting.