Five years' experience of an organ donation team in southern Israel

An account of the work of the organ donation team from 1990 to 1995 in the main hospital serving southern Israel is presented. Organ donor rate averaged 7.5 donors per million population per year, a rate inadequate to provide the number of organs required for transplantation. Family agreement for organ donation was obtained in 30% of potential donors over this 5 year period. The three principal reasons for refusal of consent were based on religious tradition, intra-family disputes, and denial reactions. It is suggested that public education is indispensable in order to improve organ donation rates.