Transplants Give Hope, Says Prof. Barnard

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32053, 30 July 1969, Page 1

Transplants Give Hope, Says Prof. Barnard

(Sew Zealand Press Association)

NAPIER, July 29. Heart transplants had given hope of a better life all over the world, Professor Christiaan Barnard, the South African transplant pioneer, said in Napier tonight.

He was speaking at a subscription dinner attended by 850 guests. He arrived in Auckland earlier today from Venezuela. The dinner, which has raised 818,000 towards the purchase of special equipment for the Napier Public Hospital’s new coronary care unit and cardiac clinic, was organised by Napier Jaycees. The over-all target of the appeal is $25,000. The subject of Professor Barnard's address was “Heart transplants—where do we go from here?” Among the guests were the South African Consul-General (Mr P. H. Philip) and the Minister of Health (Mr McKay). Professor Barnard said the first transplant was done really to save the life of one man. “That is how important the life of one man really is,” he said. The first operation met with tremendous response all over the world and was even today worldwide news, he said. In some quarters he had been praised for the advance in medicine and in others he had been criticised. “You know me, so you know when 1 say that the

first heart transplant was done to save a man’s life that this is the truth,” he said. The dramatic part of the surgery was the quick recovery of patients. They were changed into different human beings, he said. There was a great need for this operation, if not to save lives for long, at least to alleviate suffering. In the last two years there had been 140 transplants, and in 12 to 15 of these cases it had been possible to prevent rejection completely. “If we can do it in one case we can do it in every case,” he said. The Mayor of Napier (Mr P. Tait) said Professor Barnard had promised to give

$lOO to the appeal if the All Blacks won a Rugby test in South Africa next year. ■ “If the Springboks win the rubber I will donate $lOO to the appeal,” Mr Tait said. Professor Barnard said earlier in Auckland that he intended to go on transplanting hearts, and he could not understand the objections raised to the procedure. He has performed five heart transplants and three of his patients are still alive. “We have patients all the time waiting for transplants,” he said. “Some Come from overseas. Waiting at present are an Italian, who has come to Groote Sehuur (Cape Town) especially, a South African of German origin and a Negro.” Asked about other world centres which had decided to suspend heart transplants, he said: “Every unit must decide whether to continue.

“We consider it has something to offer the patient All five of my patients would have been dead if I hadn’t done the operation. I don’t see why I shouldn’t do it” He said there should never have been any debate over ethics. “I can’t see anything wrong with transplanting an organ,” he said. “As for the cost, what about wars and moon shots? No-one has told me of any problem encountered that we did not have before transplants. ‘Definition of death has always been a problem. If anything, we have become much more careful about it” He dismissed rumours linking him with film stars. Photographs had been published of him sitting with film stars, but what readers did not know was that overseas newspapers had in one case cut off the film star’s husband sitting beside her and at the other end an ambassador, he said. He said arthritis in his hands had not worried him too much.