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PRESS RELEASE Organ Donor Foundation
DATE: 30 July 2018
SUBJECT: ALMOST 80% OF SOUTH AFRICANS WILL ACCEPT A LIFE
SAVING ORGAN, BUT SADLY 80% WILL NOT DONATE
The need for organs and tissue is becoming a national
tragedy. Increasingly people are turned away at
government hospitals.

It’s time to wake up and acknowledge that organ and tissue donation is not someone
else’s problem and it’s not someone else’s duty – IT AFFECTS US ALL. It is ignorant to
believe that misfortune only happens to others. You probably do know someone living
with diabetes or high blood pressure. You probably know someone living with heart
failure.

Did you know that there are thousands of children and adults who die while waiting
for liver and kidney transplants and thousands of babies and children who suffer
terrible burn injuries in shack fires?

Organ and tissue donation really does affect us all and it is not a solution reserved
exclusively for the elite. Thousands of South Africans suffer from chronic kidney
failure. Thousands never receive a life-saving transplant and cannot be helped at
Government Hospitals due to a lack of dialysis facilities; these people are sent home
to die.

Yet another alarming fact - millions of people live in marginalised and vulnerable
communities and never hear about organ and tissue donation through the standard
media. Since they don’t have sufficient information, they are unable to make a
decision on what they think or feel about organ and tissue donation. People will not
say YES to organ and tissue donation if they don’t know what it is that they are saying
YES to. Even worse, these are often the people who are the most affected when in
need of a life-saving transplant.

We all know it is our duty to help each other whenever we can. We know that the
ancestors say we must say yes and the elders agree. Sadly, the majority of people have
some information about transplantation, but they do not know enough to say YES.

The ULUNTU Project was launched to address this need for information. The ULUNTU
Project aims to educate people to make an informed decision towards organ and
tissue donation.

We are proud South Africans! Our strength is within each other. We are of a common
mind and it should not be difficult to say YES.