Delivering a healthy WA - surgeons perform State's first lung transplant

23/12/04
Health Minister Jim McGinty today paid tribute to staff at Royal Perth Hospital after Western Australia's first successful lung transplant.
"This is a remarkable achievement by a talented and dedicated team of medical professionals," Mr McGinty said.
"I congratulate every member of the WA Heart and Lung Transplant Service - the surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists and nurses - it is a true testament to the quality of medical staff and the facilities we have in WA."
The Minister said the historic surgery came just six months after the State Government allocated $1.5million to establish the specialist unit for lung transplants in WA.
"Up until now, lung transplant patients had to make an often traumatic trip to the Eastern States to have their surgery," he said.
"For many patients and their families, it meant uprooting their lives for months or even years because they had to wait on call 24 hours a day for a compatible lung to become available.
"The time was right for a unit to be established in WA and with the first successful transplant now done, we can look forward to this first class team performing more life-saving surgery."
Mr McGinty said at least 12 WA patients each year would benefit from the new lung transplant unit and more transplants would be done as demand increased.
Already some WA patients waiting for lung transplants in the eastern states have moved home to have their surgery.
WA's first lung transplant highlighted the importance of organ donation and the need for more people to register as donors.
"There are currently about 670,000 Western Australians - a third of the population - who are registered organ donors," the Minister said.
"We would like to see about 50 per cent of the population register as donors, to help save more lives and reduce the waiting times for transplants."
This year 22 people donated their organs for life-saving transplants, compared with 18 last year, 15 in 2002 and 12 in 2001.

Each donor can potentially donate up to 10 of their organs including lungs, kidneys, heart, liver and corneas.
Minister's office: 9220 5000