Bendigo had the sixth highest number of residents in the state last year to register for organ donation.
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Statistics released for DonateLife week show total of 425 people in the 3550 post code registered to become organ donors in 2017.
It was one of three regional areas to make the top 10.
Ballarat had the highest number of residents record their intention to donate their organs in 2017, with 655 new registrations.
Bendigo’s registration numbers are high for the past year, but health professionals are still calling for more people to register to donate.
Nurse donations specialist at Bendigo Health Craig Sloan hopes DonateLife week will raise the awareness of organ donation in the Bendigo community.
At the moment seven out of 10 people support organ donation, but only about one in five have registered for organ donation, Mr Sloan said.
Just 1-2 percent of deaths in a hospital setting occur in circumstances in which organ donation is possible.
“Organ donation changes and saves people’s lives,” Mr Sloan said.
“Last year we had 510 people donate organs and that changed the life of nearly 1700 people.”
Mr Sloan sees first-hand the difference organ donation can make to a life.
Most major organ transplants are of kidneys.
To date in 2018 there have been four kidney transplant patients in the Bendigo CBD.
A donated kidney can change a patient’s life, meaning they no longer have to undergo dialysis three times a week.
Any donated organ can be the difference between life and death.
“A lot of these people will die before they get organ transplants, so it makes a huge difference,” Mr Sloan said.
“Probably only about two percent of people who die can become organ donors, and that’s why it’s really important that people register to become a donor.”
In July Victoria hit a milestone. In total 1,000,000 people in the state have now signed up to donate organ or tissue donors.
The state makes up one third of the total pool of donors nationally.
The state broke the national record for deceased organ donation in 2017.
A total of 148 donors saved the lives of 389 organ recipients.
At any one time an average of 1,400 Australians will be waiting for an organ donation.
The 3551 postcode had the second highest number of registrations within central Victoria to the donor register in 2017.
Some 306 people registered in the postcode, which covers areas around Strathfieldsaye, Mandurang, Epsom and Huntly.
- Register at donatelife.gov.au