Map of the Week: Ontario registered organ donors

ANDREW STAWICKI/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Map: Ontario registered organ donors by postal code, February 2010

This week's map looks at rates of organ donor registration in Ontario. A link to a fully interactive version is above. The results are discussed more fully in an article in today's paper..

The map shows that Ontario residents sign up for the province's organ donor registry at very different rates, and that the rates show clear geographic patterns.

Parts of the GTA have have very low rates. The pattern is dramatic. The lowest-ranking 50 postal codes out of about 500 in all Ontario all cluster in northwest Toronto and the nearby part of Vaughan, and in Scarborough and the nearby part of Markham:

By contrast, northeastern Ontario shows far higher rates, with a belt stretching from Muskoka through Sudbury and North Bay and north of Lake Superior showing rates over 30%. A top 10 list of Ontario's 500-odd postal codes includes two different neighbourhoods in Timmins and two different neighbourhoods in North Bay.

These are real regional differences with sharply defined clusters. The question is: what lies behind them? At first I wondered whether it was local differences in the approach taken when health cards are renewed, but apparently this is supposed to be done uniformly across the province.

So these are real choices, rooted in a complicated mix of attitudes about death, the body, strangers, medicine and so forth.

(What was your experience when you renewed your health card? Let us know in the comments.)

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Within Toronto, the city generally has rates under 10%, except for the inverted-T shape of the older neighbourhoods of the former City of Toronto, which have rates between 10 and 20%. York Region has rates below 10% south of a line more or less at King-Vaughan Road and Stouffville Road, and between 10-20% north of that. Much of Oakville has rates over 20%.

The Hamilton area has generally higher rates, with Dundas, Ancaster and the downtown neighbourhood south of Main St. W. showing rates over 30%.

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Here is a top 20 list:

1	P1C	43.80%	Northern North Bay
2	P2A	40.00%	Parry Sound
3	P3G	39.80%	North shore of Georgian Bay E of Killarney
4	P1A	39.20%	Southern North Bay
5	P4P	38.00%	Northern Timmins
6	P9N	36.91%	East of Kenora
7	P0H	36.80%	Upper Ottawa Valley, outskirts of North Bay
8	P4R	35.99%	Western Timmins
9	P7J	35.88%	South of Thunder Bay
10	P0G	35.69%	Georgian Bay shore north of Parry Sound
11	P0C	35.48%	South of Parry Sound
12	P3E	35.48%	Southern Sudbury and area to the south
13	P3Y	35.35%	West of Sudbury
14	P4N	35.13%	Central Timmins, area to the west
15	P2B	34.27%	West Nipissing (W of North Bay)
16	P3L	34.26%	Northwest of Sudbury
17	P0N	34.22%	East of Timmins
18	P3B	34.08%	Western Sudbury
19	P3A	33.94%	Northwestern Sudbury
20	P3N	33.88%	North of Sudbury

and a bottom 20 list:

484	M1W	5.20%	Toronto: Northwest corner of Scarborough
485	M3M	5.19%	Toronto: Central Downsview
486	M6B	5.18%	Toronto: Glencairn/Allen area
487	M1B	5.14%	Toronto: Malvern
488	M6M	4.92%	Toronto: Keelesdale/Mount Dennis
489	M1X	4.86%	Toronto: Morningside Heights
490	M1S	4.86%	Toronto: Agincourt
491	M9M	4.84%	Toronto: Weston Rd-Shepphard area
492	M3K	4.83%	Toronto: Eastern Downsview
493	L4K	4.74%	Vaughan: Keele/Langstaff area
494	L3S	4.61%	Markham: Markham Rd/14thSt area
495	L4J	4.42%	Vaughan: Centre St/Bathurst area
496	M1V	4.29%	Toronto: Milliken area
497	M3L	4.27%	Toronto: Western Downsview
498	M4H	3.99%	Toronto: Thorncliffe Park
499	M9V	4.00%	Toronto: Rexdale
500	L4L	4.00%	Woodbridge
501	M9L	3.80%	Toronto: Humber Summit
502	M6L	3.80%	Toronto: NW of Black Creek/Lawrence
503	M3N	3.50%	Toronto: Jane/Finch

The data was released by the Ministry of Health under access-to-information laws.

Each FSA has an individual graphic, like this one:

Comments

[Joanne]

Rediculous! It's not hard to do, signing your organ donation card and could save your own friends, family or neighbours. Come on, people!

[Charlotte Babbage]

My experience is that media, and consequently the public, confuse the Registering one's last wish to allow one's body to harvested - a pledge - with being guaranteed it will be done. "Sign the little card, and your heart etc. will go to a need person." Like leaving those bits of dear old mom off at the nearest hospital and her old clothes at the Goodwill.
Congratulations to the Star for making readers aware of this longstanding electronic provincial Registry. Now ask yourselves and the public how many even knew it existed, how many know the back of the green photo ID card has a place for your intentions to be coded. Old cards can get a sticker. Check the headline on this excellent initiative - does it support the myth one is guaranteed to be a Donor whenever and however one dies with not regard for a transplant recipient ?

[Charlotte Babbage]

Have you made it clear that the Registry of future intentions is with OHIP, around over a decade in my experience, and Trillium group was only established to promote the need with that long-out-of-date bit of pasteboard ? The story approaches don't seem to match. One says tell Trillium group; another, tell Ministry Health/OHIP at renewal time or online/mail.
It is no secret that transplantation works. Advertising the need of patients really doesn't meet the need to make every health card carrier aware of the opportunity put their future offer where it counts - in the provincial Registry. No doubt in time this will be linked to Provinicial Registries across Canada, if enough people bother to use them.

[Grace Marsh]

I took 30 seconds and sent an email to everyone in my office with a link to the Star article and a link to The Gift of Life site. If one person at every work place did that, imagine the possibilities.

[Charlotte Babbage]

We're intrigued by number of posters with Map and Walkers story who don't state what they/loved ones have done to give authorities the option of harvesting them at death.
Yet so much advice - even put it in your will - which of course isn't accessible, opened after death. Any more than that bit of cardboard dated a decade ago is likely to be presented by the current nearest kin.
Hope an editor will go through all the responses and sort out what needs further explanation.
It's so simple - Health card encoding of your wishes. Instantly accessible to authorities and updated advice to current family decision-makers.
And weeding out the off-topic opinion re religions etc.

[R.C.]

My husband died due to complications of a liver disorder. At the time his doctor said there were 84 people on the list waiting for a liver. He said that people do not want to donate their organs. I for one signed my driver's license years before by husand became ill and told my family and friends of my intentions. I believe in donating organs, if I can save one life I would be happy and if I can save more than one I would be happier still.

People, unfortunately are not educated enough about donating organs. But they would be the first to complain if there wasn't one for them if they need it.

Come on people sign that line, you could be helping a loved one.

[richard st amour]

The leaders in these constituency (the bottom 20) are a former Minister of Health, a Doctor, the Minister of Health Promotions, the Assistant to the Minister of Health and the chair of the Committee on Social Policy. Embarrassing, I'd say so, and to top it off St Michaels Hospital, one of Canada's leading transplant centers is located in the bottom 20 areas. Even better the Trillium Gift of Life Network is also located in a area with the lowest organ donation registry.

Richard

[Emily]

My husband and I are registered donors. We've made our intentions known to our families. Both our parents and siblings aren't donors. One of our families have made it clear that they wouldn't honor this wish if it was up to them anyway. Which is disappointing. The complete lack of trust in the hospitals and staff after their experiences, which are nothing like my own, colours their opinions. One of our mothers just doesn't like the idea of a burial when the body isn't 'complete'.

Interestingly, these people do donate blood. I think views of death and trust in health care providers is a good chunk of the issue. I'm not surprised people living in cities would be less trusting.