Why organ donations are declining and how governments are reacting
CTV
Ontario and Nunavut opted into new legislation by the federal government hoping to increase organ donations as hundreds of patients die while on the waitlist each year.
Canadians support organ donation after death but fewer are registering for the practice, leaving hundreds of people dying while on waitlists each year.
To combat the trend, the federal government passed Bill C-210 in 2021, allowing provinces and territories to add the option of signing up for organ donation when filing taxes.
Ontario and Nunavut recently opted into the legislation.
"What it does is it makes people aware, and it allows the government to contact them with more information about organ donation in their province," Dr. Lori West, scientific director of the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, told CTV's Your Morning on Monday. "Part of the reason we think that organ donation is not as optimal as it could be is that people don't learn about it, they don't hear about it, they don't think about it or talk about it."
Specific organs, like the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, small bowel and stomach can be donated after death in Canada, both for research and to people needing a transplant.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says organ transplants decreased 14 per cent between 2019 and 2020, with the highest decrease in pancreases and lungs. Those needing liver transplants had the highest fatality rate on the waitlist, as of December 2020.
By allowing the government to add organ donation information and sign-up in tax filings, more people will be exposed to the need for donations.
This year’s hard winter weather likely left significant damage for many homeowners coming into spring. Building and renovation expert Ryan Thompson spoke to CTV’s Your Morning about some of the biggest areas to focus on around the exterior of your home, to help prevent serious damage after the cold, hard winter.
Iranians are managing to get online during the current war with the U.S. and Israel despite drastic censorship and frequent blackouts, throwing the spotlight on to providers of tools such as VPNs (virtual private networks).
March is Nutrition Month, and two Ottawa dietitians joined "CTV Your Morning Ottawa" to mark the occasion and share three sample performance plates for three different levels of activity.
Dozens of models with Down syndrome strutted down a catwalk at a fashion show in Romania’s capital for an evening celebrating style, “atypical beauty” and courage to mark World Down Syndrome Day.
Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said Friday while warning that still more rain was expected during the weekend.
While Canada is well known for its accomplishments in space — including building the robotic arms used on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station — the country still has no ability to launch its own satellites. This week, Ottawa committed nearly a quarter‑billion dollars towards changing that.
March is Liver Health Month, and while many people think about alcohol and diet when it comes to liver health, a growing risk factor is chronic hepatitis B.
It’s an enduring stereotype that Canadians are unfailingly nice, quick to apologize even when they have done nothing wrong. But an online urban legend claims the opposite of Canada’s soldiers, painting a picture of troops so brazen in their brutality that international laws were rewritten to rein them in.
Friday marks the first official day of spring in the northern hemisphere, but it will still feel like winter this weekend for many Canadians, as snow, sleet, rain and sub-zero temperatures are forecast across the country.
A social media post from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week shows a big-eyed macaque staring out from behind bars.
Young people in southeast England and beyond are lining up for the meningitis B vaccine after an outbreak killed two people, sparking supply warnings from pharmacies and raising broader questions about the best public health response to the disease.
Many wage earners are engaging in “microshifting,” a flexible scheduling approach that involves tackling job duties in short, productive bursts instead of a single nine-to-five stretch.
Tyson Atleo, a hereditary leader of the Ahousaht First Nation, says the creation of three new forestry areas to be managed by his community and two others on the west coast of Vancouver Island marks the realization of a long-standing promise.