Organ donors with HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani, Minister for Public Health and Hanan al-Kuwari, HMC’s managing director at the event.
The Hamad Medical Corporation’s Organ Donation Centre (Hiba) recently honoured 41 donors and their families at the annual “Celebration of Life” event.
The event attended by Minister for Public Health HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani and HMC’s managing director Hanan al-Kuwari honoured 33 living organ donors and the families of eight deceased donors, for their contribution to the health of the nation and the organ donation programme.
Seven Qatari organ transplant recipients who chose to have their transplant surgery in Qatar rather than go abroad during 2015 were also honoured. Supporters of the programme were also thanked for their contribution including Qatar Red Crescent and representatives of the 12 shopping malls who donated space for the organ donation campaign to share their message with the public.
Dr Yousef al-Maslamani, director of HMC’s Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation said the organ donation programme has seen remarkable success in the past few years.
“The awareness programmes, especially the ongoing public awareness campaign about organ donation has managed to bring about a large shift in public understanding and perspective of this important topic,” he said. “It is important to thank those who contributed to the programme, especially our living donors and deceased donors and their families. They have truly given the gift of life.”
“The greater number of organ donors has led to an increase in kidney transplant procedures as well as enabling new procedures to take place, such as liver transplants and paediatric kidney transplants.”
Mohamed Saad al-Rumaihi, a kidney transplant patient who received care at Hamad General Hospital, commended the HMC’s efforts in the area of organ donation.
He said HMC has succeeded in changing the views and perceptions of many Qatari patients who previously opted to travel overseas for their treatment and transplants.
“We have great confidence in HMC’s medical capabilities in organ transplantation. It has a highly experienced and knowledgeable team of surgeons, who are among the world’s best. Qatar is now world renowned in the field of organ transplantation, and the dedication of the team at Hiba, who make every effort possible to save patients’ lives, “ stated al- Rumaihi.
Hiba director Dr Riadh Fadhil said the Centre had achieved its goal of doubling donor registrations to 100,000 this year.
“Organ donation saves lives and enables opportunities to develop the organ transplantation programme,” Dr Fadhil said. “HMC’s full commitment to the Doha Donation Accord has seen the number of registered donors increase significantly over the last four years from 2,000 to more than 100,000.”
