A brief history of organ donation and transplantation in New Zealand The first organ to be transplanted in New Zealand was the kidney at Auckland Hospital on 28 May 1965. The first heart transplant occurred on 2 December 1987. The 1990s saw the commencement of lung transplantation in 1993, and liver and pancreas transplantation in 1998. Key legislative and policy changes in New Zealand The following table provides a snapshot of the key legislative actions and policies that have been considered and implemented in New Zealand. Each box highlights the key years and a summary of what happened. 1964 Human Tissue Act 1964 passed. This was eventually repealed and replaced by the Human Tissue Act 2008. 1989 Human Tissue Act 1964 amended to allow for the establishment of a database of potential organ and tissue donors through Land Transport New Zealand (now New Zealand Transport Agency). At the time people first apply or renew their driver’s license, they must answer or to a question asking them to indicate whether ‘yes’ ‘no’ they would be willing to donate organs in the event of their death. 2002 Andrew Tookey presents a petition to the Health Select Committee requesting Parliament to address the organ donor shortage. The petition called for wide-ranging initiatives to increase the organ donation rate from deceased people, including establishing an organ donor register for potential deceased donors. Government (Labour) agrees to the recommendations in Tookey’s petition in principle 2004 and agreed to provide additional resources to deceased organ donation by extending the services of the National Transplant Donor Coordination Office in 2005. However, the proposal for a donor register was rejected. Ministry of Health begins review of the regulatory framework of human tissue and tissue-based therapies, which previously spanned a number of acts and regulations including the Human Tissue Act 1964.
A brief history of organ donation and transplantation in New Zealand The first organ to be transplanted in New Zealand was the kidney at Auckland Hospital on 28 May 1965. The first heart transplant occurred on 2 December 1987. The 1990s saw the commencement of lung transplantation in 1993, and liver and pancreas transplantation in 1998. Key legislative and policy changes in New Zealand The following table provides a snapshot of the key legislative actions and policies that have been considered and implemented in New Zealand. Each box highlights the key years and a summary of what happened. 1964 Human Tissue Act 1964 passed. This was eventually repealed and replaced by the Human Tissue Act 2008. 1989 Human Tissue Act 1964 amended to allow for the establishment of a database of potential organ and tissue donors through Land Transport New Zealand (now New Zealand Transport Agency). At the time people first apply or renew their driver’s license, they must answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a question asking them to indicate whether they would be willing to donate organs in the event of their death. 2002 Andrew Tookey presents a petition to the Health Select Committee requesting Parliament to address the organ donor shortage. The petition called for wide-ranging initiatives to increase the organ donation rate from deceased people, including establishing an organ donor register for potential deceased donors. 2004 Government (Labour) agrees to the recommendations in Tookey’s petition in principle and agreed to provide additional resources to deceased organ donation by extending the services of the National Transplant Donor Coordination Office in 2005. However, the proposal for a donor register was rejected. Ministry of Health begins review of the regulatory framework of human tissue and tissue-based therapies, which previously spanned a number of acts and regulations including the Human Tissue Act 1964.
discussion_doc-_background_on_organ_donation_nz.docx