Religious leaders give organ donation a boost CMAJ 1997;157:1338 © 1997 Canadian Medical Association In an unprecedented display of unity, leaders from different religious communities rose and signed a giant organ-donor card at the Ottawa headquarters of the Kidney Foundation of Canada in October. Those affixing their names included Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Gervais, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, Dr. Madhu Sahasrabudhe of the Hindu community, Dr. Mukhtar Malik, president of the Ottawa Muslim Association, and Quasem Mahmud, chair of the Islamic Schools Federation of Ottawa. In all, 10 religious leaders signed the card. The foundation says the initiative comes at a crucial time because hospitals are reporting a critical shortage of donated organs. "At the same time," says the foundation, "people on long waiting lists are dying every day. We believe that people often decide against signing their donor cards because doing so will deny them a proper religious burial or will somehow be against their religion." The foundation, which says about 16% of Canadians consider their religion a barrier to organ donation, hope the signatures will help to "dispel a widespread myth that donating organs is contrary to religious beliefs." "This is the best thing you can do with your life -- to save someone else's life," Bulka told the Ottawa Sun. "We want to escalate this to the point where it's not even a choice -- it is a duty of the individual." Gervais, whose niece is an organ recipient, agreed that some people worry that religion frowns upon organ donation. "I don't understand it," he said. Send a letter to the editor responding to this article Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article | CMAJ November 15, 1997 (vol 157, no 10) / JAMC le 15 novembre 1997 (vol 157, no 10) |