Albertans Top Organ Donor List

By CP

EDMONTON -- Alberta and Quebec top the list of Canadian provinces in getting organ donations from people who die.

New statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that the cadaveric donor rate in Alberta last year was 17.1 per million population.

That was equalled only in Quebec.

It was more than double that of British Columbia, at 7.3 per million.

And it was well above Ontario's numbers of 11.4 per million.

Margaret Lidstone, a nurse who works as a donor transplant co-ordinator in the Human Organ Procurement and Exchange program in Edmonton, said one reason for Alberta's success may be demographics.

Alberta has a young population, and the young are more willing to make organ donations, she said.

Copyright © 2003 Sun Media Corporation.

This article posted April 26, 2003.