By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter
Qatar Centre for Organ Donation and Transplantation (Hiba) under Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) aims to register around 20,000 donors during the 40-day campaign launched in the beginning of Ramadan.
Around 6000 donors have already signed the will for organ donation during the campaign so far.
Dr Riaydh Fadhil, director of Hiba, gave these statistics at a ceremony organised to announce the collaboration between Hiba and Qatar Charity yesterday.
According to the collaboration, Qatar Charity will help Hiba in raising awareness about organ donation and honouring organ donors and their families. Dr Yousuf al-Maslamani, head of the Organ Transplant Committee at HMC and Dr Abdul Nasser al-Zaher al-Yafie, executive director of Collection and Branches Department, Qatar Charity were among those present.
Dr Fadhil said: “This campaign will run for 40 days and we expect a greater participation from the people than the previous years. A total of 16,606 new registrants were added to the organ donor registry in Qatar in 2013, indicating a seven fold increase since 2012. The campaign in 2012 received 2,500 donors.”
Dr al-Maslamani said: “The main objective of the campaign is to boost awareness within the community about organ donation, increase the number of registered donors and hopefully reduce any concerns or misconceptions that people have regarding the process.”
He added that the the number of people registering to donate organs was on the increase. “We need more donors to register in Qatar so that nobody has to face losing a loved one while they are waiting for an organ,” he added.
Al-Yafie said: “Qatar Charity is always keen to support organ donors and their families and the sponsorship of the organ donation campaign comes as part of our commitment to enhance partnership with various national organisations particularly in promoting social and humanitarian activities in Qatar.”
People who would like to donate their organs can do so by visiting the HMC booth at City Center and sign the registry at the booth. There must be two witnesses present during the registration as it is considered an organ donation will. Details of the donor are kept in an electronic record and the person is given an identification card.
According to Hiba officials, the organs and tissue that can be donated in Qatar include heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines and corneas.
