Introduction

Can you imagine what it would be like to live with end-stage kidney failure? Your life can only continue as long as you are able to get dialysis treatment every few days. Without it you will die. Unless you can get a kidney transplant... Imagine the difference that would make to your life? You could study for your dream career, or get a job or even go away on holidays.

Your previous study of Physiology has provided you with an understanding of the structure and function of different organs in the human body. As you know, these organs will at times fail, and to maintain life, alternatives need to be found, sometimes with great urgency.

Medical techniques and technology have advanced so much in the last 40 years that we are now much more successful at performing transplants. However, those same medical advances have also meant that many potential donors now survive and the dilemma is that even though more people survive the transplant experience, there are less and less organs available to be transplanted.

The Australian Government is attempting to find ways to increase the willingness of people to donate organs, either after death, or as a living donor. According to the Donate Life website, Australia has one of the lowest rates of organ donors per million population, anywhere in the world. The rate for Australia in 2008 was 12 donors per million people - Spain by contrast had a donor rate of 35 per million people.

In 2009, only 799 transplants were performed throughout Australia, while there were approximately 1700 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Without a transplant, many of these people will die, or in the case of kidney disease and dialysis, have to exist tied to expensive technology which maintains their life.

Your team consists of experts in understanding the issues involved in organ donation and transplantation. The Government has asked for your recommendations for the direction Australia should take to either increase the rate of donation in this country, or find alternative methods for harvesting organs.

Are you up to the task?

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