New Polling Shows Overwhelming Support for Organ and Tissue Donation

Long wait lists and gaps in supply and demand not due to lack of interest


OTTAWA, August 13, 2010 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - While more than 4,000 Canadians are on wait lists for organ transplants - and every day-and-a-half, one patient dies waiting - Canada's low deceased organ donation rate cannot be attributed to a lack of public support.

As world experts gather next week in Vancouver to discuss strategies for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates, a recent Ipsos Reid poll shows that Canadians are strong proponents of both organ and tissue donation. But confusion about how to declare their support for donation in the current system may be a key factor in Canada's flat donation rate for the past decade. At about 14 donors per million, our national organ donor rate (deceased) is less than half that of the best performing countries.

The poll shows that the majority of Canadians have either made the decision to donate, or are open to it, however few have taken action to register their consent. Further, seven in 10 Canadians cannot name the organization responsible for managing the organ and tissue donation and transplantation (OTDT) system within their province or territory-demonstrating confusion about how to register and with whom.

"The current system saves lives every day, but what this poll tells us is that we have an opportunity to do so much better," says Dr. Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services, which commissioned the poll as part of public consultations on system improvements in OTDT . "What Canadians are telling us is that they need a clearer, more responsive system that makes it easy for them to act on their support, and that ultimately respects their wishes."

Other key poll findings include:

- Canadians agree that improving access to organ and tissue donation is a top health-care priority, and that increased education and awareness about donation options for both the public and medical communities is key. They also believe that a physician or medical professional should approach families at the appropriate time to discuss donation options.

- While Canadians are united in the need for an improved OTDT system, their opinions differ on potential remedies; for instance:

- 88 per cent believe the wishes of a deceased person who has signed a donor card or registered their intent should be followed - regardless of the wishes of next-of-kin

- However, only 54 per cent of Canadians favour "presumed
consent," in which organs and tissues are considered public good unless one "opts out." Meanwhile, 45 per cent are decidedly opposed to a system that assumes consent without prior consultation.

- Most Canadians list inter-provincial collaboration as the top priority for developing an integrated system, to ensure wait times are consistent across the country and that patients have a fair chance of receiving a transplant, regardless of where they live.

This polling information supports data that Canadian Blood Services collected during a series of nine public dialogue consultations held across the country in recent months. In particular, public dialogue participants expressed surprise that wait times for organs vary widely across the country. Similar to Ipsos' data, consultation participants placed a high premium on equality and fairness; and improved collaboration nationwide.

In August 2008, Canadian Blood Services was mandated by the federal, provincial and territorial governments outside Quebec to develop a recommendation for the design of an integrated system to improve organ and tissue donation and transplantation (OTDT) in Canada. Since then, the organization has been consulting broadly with industry experts both at home and internationally, with key patient groups, and with the Canadian public. A series of recommendations is being developed based on those consultations.

In 2008, there were more than 2,000 organ transplants performed in Canada, while at the same time more than 4,300 Canadians remained on a wait list for transplantation. During that period, 215 died without receiving the transplant that might have saved their lives.

To read the full polling results, please visit www.blood.ca

To read the full report on Canadian Blood Services' public dialogue consultations, please visit www.blod.ca/speakup

Edible Crayons Made From Health Foods Make Eating Bee Pollen Fun

from TreeHugger.com
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

What kid didn't try to eat their crayons? Designboom introduces us to Luxirare, an extraordinary website where the proprietor develops and presents a collection of rare and beautiful things, like these crazy crayons made of healthy ingredients.

Eating bee pollen and prunes was never so much fun. And they draw, too. Some commenters on Gizmodo have suggested that this is not a good idea, that it encourages children to eat things that they shouldn't; One could also take the position that everything we bring into our homes should be made from healthy, non-toxic and even edible materials.

Not all of the ingredients are health foods, "fruity pebbles" are sometimes used for colour and marshmallows hold them all together.

But a wonderful experiment, beautifully presented at Luxirare... more story at TreeHugger.com

10 Cool Things You Didn't Know About Stephen Hawking

HowStuffWorks.com
by Jane McGrath

Even if you don't follow the developing theories in physics, you have probably heard of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. Most known as a brilliant mind in a paralyzed body, he's prided himself on making his complex physical concepts accessible to the public and writing the bestseller, "A Brief History of Time."

And if you are a fan of Conan O'Brien, "The Simpsons" or "Star Trek," you might have seen him brandishing his cool wit during guest appearances on those shows.

Even if you are familiar with his academic work, however, there are many interesting facts you might not know about Hawking, stretching from his time at school and gradual development of disability to his opinions on the future of the human race.

Many find it surprising, for instance, that, despite his influential body of work, Hawking hasn't yet been awarded the Nobel Prize. We'll talk about some of the remarkable distinctions he has received, however.

Another interesting fact: Hawking was born Jan. 8, 1942, which just happened to be the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death.

But this has just been the warm-up. Next, we'll delve into some fascinating and unexpected facts about Hawking, including some things about his profoundly inspirational story... read more story at HowStuffWorks.com

Monkeys Catapult Themselves Out of Primate Research Institute

from TreeHugger.com
by Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil

At a primate research institute in Japan's Kyoto University, recently a group of inventive monkeys managed to escape their enclosure despite the 17 foot tall electric fence in place to keep them in. With no obvious means of escape visible, the researchers were undoubtedly puzzled at how their high-tech security was breached -- that is until they discovered the primates had figured out a way to catapult themselves.

Researchers at the institute, who apparently study primates for a living, learned that they may have been underestimating the athletic and intellectual capacity of their monkeys. Although the enclosure has trees in it, they're cut short to around 6 feet tall and kept far enough away from the fence to foil any escape plans the monkeys may hatch out -- or so they thought.

Authorities from the institute discovered that the monkeys were able to catapult themselves over the giant fence by using the small tree's branches as a slingshot, reports the Japan Times.

"Their jumping power was greater than we thought," said the head of the institute, Hirohisa Hirai.

A life on the lam, it seems, wasn't in the cards for a few of the monkeys, who returned to the enclosure on their own. Later, 10 other escaped monkeys were discovered "hanging around" just beyond the fence, reports the Times. Eventually they too returned to captivity after researchers bribed them with peanuts... read more at TreeHugger.com

Dramatic footage showing aftermath of tornado in Midland, Ontario

TORONTO, June 25, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Insurance Bureau of Canada captured dramatic footage showing the devastation caused by a tornado that struck the town of Midland, Ontario on Wednesday, June 23. IBC immediately sent its Community Assistance Mobile Pavilion (CAMP) unit to Midland to offer insurance-related information to residents affected by the tornado.

About Insurance Bureau of Canada


Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, car and business insurers. Its member companies represent 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. The P&C insurance industry employs over 110,000 Canadians, pays more than $6 billion in taxes to the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and has a total premium base of $39 billion.

Council of Canadians commends UN Right to Water Resolution

NEW YORK, June 18, 2010 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - The Council of Canadians was at the United Nations yesterday to support the historic presentation of a resolution on the right to water and sanitation and welcomed Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon's promotion of this initiative at the UN General Assembly.

But the Council of Canadians was disturbed to hear that inside a closed-meeting Canadian officials proved themselves once again the greatest obstacle to a resolution that would recognize the right to water and sanitation for the 1.2 billion people without access to clean water and the 2.6 billion without access to basic sanitation.

"We are shamed and outraged by the Harper government's position on this issue," said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "Canadians clearly do not support the denial of these fundamental rights and we condemn this obstructionism which harms the opportunity for progress when so many of the world's most vulnerable people continue to suffer."

Barlow and Anil Naidoo, organizer for the Council of Canadians Blue Planet Project, were also in New York to brief the Group of 77 on water. At the briefing, the Group of 77 chairman, Ambassador al-Saidi of Yemen, announced his support for this resolution as did other influential G-77 countries.

Naidoo said,

"For years, in other UN processes, we have seen Canada obstruct progress on the human right to water. Now the issue is at the General Assembly. If Canadians do not let this government know blocking progress on the human right to water is not acceptable, Canada will be known as the country that blocked the human right to water, a stain that will not easily disappear."

Barlow adds,

"We are overdue for water to be acknowledged as a global priority, passing this resolution would send a strong signal that before the Millennium Development Goal review in September and before the next Earth Summit in 2012, that we are committed as a global community to address the suffering caused by the global water crisis."

She also highlighted this message for the prime minister,

"The right to water and sanitation is clearly an issue related to maternal health. A G20 agenda on maternal health without support for the right to water is a sham."

The next informal consultation on this issue is Wednesday, June 23rd and then in July. Unless it is blocked at the consultation phase, the resolution in its final form will go to the United Nations General Assembly and with its passage there the human right to water and sanitation would be officially recognized by the United Nations.

Words Reflect Our Culture

TORONTO, June 8, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - We all know that the words toque, poutine and, of course, eh are words rarely used outside of Canada but there are a lot more than you may realize including:

beaver fever (n) Canad. - an infectious disease caused by drinking water that has been contaminated by wildlife

flipper pie (n) Canad. - a Newfoundland pie with a filling of cooked seal flippers

garburator (n) Canad. - a garbage disposal unit installed as part of a kitchen sink

humidex (n) Canad. - a system of measuring discomfort showing the combined effect of humidity and temperature word origin C20: from humid +(in)dex

These words alone exemplify how unique we are as Canadians and why it's essential to have a dictionary that reflects those qualities. Just as importantly, dictionaries act as a record of our language and its constant evolution.

To celebrate the launch of the COLLINS CANADIAN DICTIONARY, HarperCollins and The Globe and Mail are launching The Thousand-Word Short Story Contest. Send us 1,000 words and don't miss your chance to be published in Canada's leading newspaper this summer. The only hitch to this short story contest? You've got to include at least 10 from a list of 40 Canadian words in your work to qualify.

Submissions, which must be in by Canada Day, will be read by a committee and the finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges consisting of:

Tish Cohen, best-selling author of Town House and The Truth About Delilah Blue
Martin Levin, esteemed Books Editor of The Globe and Mail
Iris Tupholme, Publisher of HarperCollins Canada Ltd.

The winning submission will be published in The Globe and Mail. For more details about the contest and to submit your story, visit www.collinscanadadictionary.ca.

With more than 175 years of experience in dictionary publishing, Collins is trusted and relied on by users all over the world. All Collins dictionaries are based on the Collins corpus - a four-billion word corpus of written and spoken English, updated every month, that shows how language is really used today. Among others, Canadian sources include The Globe and Mail, CBC transcripts, and Canadian books of fiction and non-fiction.