Brasília, November 19, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - "Give someone a new lease on life. If you are a donor, tell your family." This is one of the phrases that will appear on posters in a national campaign inaugurated yesterday (18) by the Ministry of Health to encourage organ and tissue donations. Using the slogan "Contribute life. Be an organ donor," the campaign intends to shorten the waiting line for transplants. 56 thousand people currently await transplants in Brazil.

According to the Minister of Health, Humberto Costa, the average number of donors per capita in the population is half of what would be acceptable in a country with the dimensions and needs of Brazil. The Minister announced that he will conduct a national public opinion poll at the beginning of next year to determine wherein lie the fears and prejudices of the population concerning organ donation.

"Today in Brazil we have a reasonably advanced transplant system, which can give people confidence that no mistakes will be made in diagnosing brain death, much less that there is any evidence of organ trafficking in our country," he affirmed.

The Ministry's goal is to eliminate the waiting list for corneas by 2007 and reduce the line for bone marrow and solid organs, such as kidneys, hearts, and lungs, by 3% in the first year, 6% in the second, 9% in the third, and 12% in the fourth. Brazil is second only to the United States in the number of transplants. By the end of the year, it is estimated that over 8 thousand transplants will be performed, costing the government R$ 343 million.

Kidneys and corneas are the organs most sought after on the Ministry of Health's unified waiting list. 29,381 people await kidneys, and 21,975, corneas. The state with the largest number of people on the transplant waiting list is São Paulo, followed by Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.

The campaign's principal orientation, based on current legislation, is for people interested in being donors to communicate this decision to family members. Currently, even though people declare while they are alive that they desire to be donors, the family has the final say.

Brazil is the second largest transplanter of organs in the world and has the largest public transplant program in the world. 92% of the procedures are totally underwritten by the Federal Health System (SUS). (DAS)