Broadcast: 08/08/2008

Reporter: Laetitia Lemke

MELINDA JAMES - PRESENTER: Kidney disease is a growing problem throughout Australia with one in three people at risk of developing the illness. But for Indigenous Australians the risk is more pronounced. Aboriginal people are five times more likely to get kidney disease than non Indigenous Australians and up to 50 times more likely if they live in the Northern Territory. In fact Indigenous Territorians have the highest rate of kidney disease in the world. But when it comes to the ultimate solution - a kidney transplant - they make up just a third of Australia's organ recipients. Laetitia Lemke examines why.

LAETITIA LEMKE - REPORTER: Organ transplants like this have been happening for more than 50 years. Here, doctors are removing a kidney from one person for transplant into another patient whose own kidneys have stopped functioning.

DI STEPHENS - DIRECTOR LIFE NET NT: Organ transplantation is still a miracle. Australia is one of the leading transplanters in the world we have fantastic transplant success rates and very very good surgeons.

LAETITIA LEMKE: But transplants are a medical miracle few Indigenous people have accessed. The reasons why are complex. But the consequences for most are simple, a life condemned to renal dialysis.

DR ALAN CLASS: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients have poor access to transplantation. That's well known. Throughout the country aboriginal patients are much more likely to have kidney disease particularly in rural and remote areas and that they have probably about a third the level of access to transplantation of non Indigenous patients.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Didimain Uibo from Numbulwar is one of the lucky few Indigenous Territorians to receive a kidney transplant. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2001 and had been facing a lifetime of gruelling dialysis treatment in Darwin.

DIDIMAIN UIBO: I had to dialyse three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday and two days out of that I was able to work at my present job.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Her Husband wasn't a suitable donor and it took three years on the transplant waiting list to find a match and arrange surgery in Adelaide.

DIDIMAIN UIBO: I was fortunate to have that transplant and appreciate it all but I'd like to share this story to others that going through. I know it's going to be frightening but eventually it's a goal to look forward to.

LAETITIA LEMKE: A combination of factors including poor diet have left Indigenous Territorians with the highest rate of kidney failure in the world. Diabetes caused by high sugar diets and exacerbated by high alcohol intake is a major cause. Territory organ donation rates are almost double the national average but it still isn't enough to meet demand in the Indigenous population.

DI STEPHENS: Renal disease is one of our very big health problems in the Indigenous communities and renal transplantation is one of the solutions to end stage renal failure.

LAETITIA LEMKE: The Life Net NT Organ donation agency both coordinates transplants and informs the community about the procedure. Education is crucial with only two Indigenous people donating organs in the Territory over the past 10 years. That's a problem because organs are most successfully transplanted between people in the same ethnic group.

DI STEPHENS: One of our principle goals in Life Net NT is to develop an education resource to go out and help Indigenous people to have the knowledge to make that decision when they're in that situation.

LAETITIA LEMKE: The Commonwealth recently announced 150 million dollars to boost organ donation throughout Australia and
it hopes the push will ultimately see more Indigenous donors and recipients.

SENATOR JAN MCLUCAS, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY: None of us want to talk about this. It is a hard thing to think about but I'd like to encourage Indigenous Northern Territorians to consider putting themselves on the organ donation list.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Dr Alan Cass was part of a recent study into kidney disease in Indigenous people. Aside from a shortage of Aboriginal donors he says Indigenous people often can't get on the transplant list because they're not well enough to survive the risky procedure.

DR ALAN CASS: There are clearly issues around people's other health. People who also have diabetes or heart disease are at significantly greater risk to their health if they have a transplant so we need to address issues about general health.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Dr Paul Lawton has been working with renal patients in the Territory for almost a decade. He says a kidney transplant isn't an option for many of his dialysis patients.

DR PAUL LAWTON: I'm concerned that just using those figures and then saying well look there's discrimination what we need to aim for is the same number of transplants we'll actually just kill Indigenous Australians.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Dr Lawton says dialysis rather than a transplant is the only viable treatment for many of his patients. Over the past 20 years half of all Indigenous kidney transplants failed and a quarter of the patients died from infection. No non-Indigenous patients died in the same period.

DR PAUL LAWTON: Why is that? Well we think that's related to living conditions ultimately related to poverty causing what I call a hyper infective environment for people living after they've had a transplant.

SENATOR JAN MCLUCAS: The Federal Government is very keen to ensure that all people have access to transplants if they need them. That will mean that for people who live in remote places we will have to develop strategies that will support them post the operation.

LAETITIA LEMKE: Despite the risks Didiman Uibo says an organ transplant has given her a second chance at life and she wants others to consider giving sick family members the ultimate gift.

DIDIMAIN UIBO: It's a amazing how our Indigenous communities here at the Top End as well as down at the Centre be able to have this opportunity of helping their relatives who are on dialysis.