Published on April 18, 2004 at 7:23 PM
A recent opinion poll has found nearly 75 percent of Canadians plan to donate at least one organ upon dying.
The Leger Marketing survey said thirty-nine percent of respondents had already taken measures to make their decision known, while another 34 percent said they would follow suit.
Seventeen percent said they would not donate any organs while the remaining 10 percent refused to answer.
The poll of 1,500 Canadians was conducted Feb.27-March 2. It is considered accurate within 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, when the entire sample is taken into account.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information released figures last week on organ procurement and said the rate of donations across the country continued to fall far short of the need for transplants.
In 2003, 124 of every 1 million Canadians, or almost 4,000 people, were waiting for new organs.