By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter
In line with the spirit of giving during the fasting month of Ramadan, the Hamad Medical Corporation’s Organ Donation Centre will launch a drive to encourage residents to help someone who has an organ failure.
It is expected that the drive will assist the country to achieve its aim of reaching self-sufficiency in organ donation.
During the campaign, which will continue for 10 days after the fasting month, HMC staff will be deployed to about 20 sites in different malls and community gatherings across the country between 7-11pm to create awareness about organ donation.
Residents will also be encouraged to donate organs for their sick relatives on waiting list for organ transplant.
There are two types of organ donation – deceased and live organ donors.
According to Organ Donation Centre director Dr Riad Fadhil, the campaign seeks to deliver a “clear message” to the community that the HMC has an excellent centre for transplant.
The Qatar Centre for Organ Transplantation is accredited by the United Network for Organ Sharing.
“Our aim with the campaign is to create awareness about organ donation and our services at HMC, which is of highest standards, in order to deter patients from travelling abroad for organ transplantation,” he stated.
Dr Fadhil, who was speaking to journalists yesterday on the sideline of a symposium to educate HMC staff about the campaign, was optimistic that the drive would encourage people to give their consent to donate organs.
Around 400 HMC staff, including doctors, nurses and technicians, attended the symposium.
“We want members of the community in Qatar to participate in the organ donation campaign by donating kidneys and part of their livers for their relatives on the waiting lists for kidney or liver failure in order to safe them the agony of being on the list and waiting endlessly,” he said.
Dr Fadhil urged residents to sign a consent form to donate their organs and ensure their names enter the Donor Registry.
“If community members participate in the organ donation drive, we are sure that their participation will help the corporation in its target to reach organ self-sufficiency in Qatar.”
He said that during the campaign, the key message the staff will deliver to residents is to explore the great provision by the Doha Donation Accord (DDA), which has become a recognised best practice policy to honour organ donors and at the same time promote donation.
DDA was a model of organ donation promotion that was developed in Qatar to give the organ donors and their families the medal of honour by the highest authorities in Qatar and to offer living donors (kidney or part of the liver) the following: medical insurance for life; compensation for any health problems when they occur; life insurance; priority to get renal transplantation in case kidney failure is developed in future; free flight tickets by non-governmental institutions; all the organ donation expenses covered; compensation of loss of wages and working days payment during organ donation; and travel support and other social security support to families of deceased donor.