By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: The number of organ transplants in Qatar has almost increased by ten times compared to 2009, as a result of continued awareness programmes, according to a senior official.
However, there is a need for more donors to register so that nobody has to face losing a loved one while they are waiting for an organ, says Dr Riadh Fadhil, Director of Qatar Organ Donation Center (Hiba).
Having nearly 50,000 living donors registered, officials expect the number of donors registered to double by end of 2015.
“In five months we have done transplants and we have deceased and live donations, ten times than what we started with. The living and deceased donation this year if compared to 2009, it multiplied by 10 times. What happened is that people started to be aware. We have noticed that when we started the campaign in 2012, we gathered only 2,000 throughout Ramadan and last year we had 23,000. This year our target is 55,000. We want to make our donor registry to 100,000 by the end of the year,” said Dr Fadhil on the sidelines of the organ and blood donation campaign launched at the City Centre on Sunday by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) with the support of Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation (Alf).
“I am getting a deceased donor every month and also 60 percent of those on the waiting list are preparing their live donor. They put on the waiting list to wait for a deceased donor and at the same time preparing a live donor. In 2009 we had only one donor,” he said.
An organ transplant can be life-saving procedure. It can also significantly improve quality of life for someone with chronic organ failure. These life-saving organs come from deceased donors, who have pledged during their life to give their organs to someone in need. A deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives. It is also possible to donate a kidney or part of the liver while you are alive to a relative.
Dr Fadhil also discourages organ transplants in foreign countries, especially if its connected to organ trading. According to him many patients who do organ transplant in some foreign countries have return with serious complications. At least three such people are presently being treated at the HMC.
“I have three patients at the hospital who came from abroad with a transplant with serious complications. Seventy-percent of those who come from abroad who come from abroad have complications and 12 percent death,” he said. Two campaigns — the Ramadan Voluntary Blood Donation and the National Organ Donation — were officially opened by Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Alf at the City Center Doha.
For the voluntary blood donation campaign, mobile blood donor units are being dispatched to locations around Qatar to encourage voluntary blood donation. The Blood Donor Center at the main quarters next to the Consultative Council will receive volunteer donors from 8 pm to midnight during Ramadan.
The national organ donation campaign booths will be set up in shopping malls and other prominent locations around the country, where Qatar Organ Donation Center’s (Hiba) specially-trained employees will talk to the public about the importance of organ donation and answer questions people might have. Visitors to the stands will be able register as an organ donor at the booth.
Sheikh Faisal said: “We always strive to create a community partnership by providing moral support to the efforts of the Supreme Council of Health and the Blood Donor Center at HMC, in order to enrich the blood bank stocks throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan. This campaign is vital as it aims to provide support and assistance to patients in need of blood, and to spread the culture of voluntary blood and organ donation throughout the society.”
Dr Yousuf Al Maslamani, Director of Qatar Organ Transplant Center at HMC, said: “I invite the public to visit one of the organ donation stands during the evenings, throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan, to learn more about organ donation and transplantation and those who are interested can register as a donor.
Ali Talal Mare, Executive Director of ALF said: “ ALF support this campaign as part of our vision to support the community. Every year people are more aware, in 2014 around 1500 people register as blood donors and 20,000 as organ donors, we hope more people will register this year.”
At the City Centre, staff from Hiba at the booth aiming to educate members of the public on organ donation in general and asking them to consider registering as a donor. The public will be able to find out what it means to be a registered organ donor, how it can save the lives, as well as having their questions answered. They will be able to register as a donor on the spot and will receive their donor card.
Genalyn, a Pilipino expatriate who register as a organ donor at the booth said: “In our country an organ transplant would cost millions. Here its free and safe, so I decided to be a deceased donor, in case of my death here, many people will benefit.”
Also HMC is hoping to continue the awareness campaign throughout the year at the City Centre.
The Pninsula
