By
Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
Batac City—Talk about death and organ donation seems morbid to some
Ilocanos in this northern gateway of Luzon but in an effort to promote
awareness and encourage more to become organ donors, the Department of Health (DOH), through the Philippine Network for
Organ Sharing (PhilNOS), in partnership with the National Kidney Transplant
Institute, brought its “I am a Lifeline” organ donation advocacy caravan to
Ilocos Norte on recently.
Held
at the function hall of the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical
Center, health workers and advocates were invited to attend the information
caravan and be part of the organ donation campaign.
Dr.
Antonio Paraiso, PhilNOS program manager, said the caravan is part of the
Philippine Organ Donation and Transplantation Program (PODTP) which aims to
promote and increase awareness on the deceased (organ) donor program, eliminate
the negative connotations associated with the term “organ donation”, increase
advocacy against “organ trafficking” and to establish a national registry of
organ donor, through the signing of official PhilNOS Organ Donor Card.
Dr.
Paraiso reiterated that there are people with strong principles and with an
objective of redirecting the image that one is not merely an organ donor but a
lifeline, a declaration of one commitment to be a lifesaver today and beyond
life, thus the “I’m a Lifeline” organ donation advocacy was created.
In
the Philippines, at least one Filipino dies every hour from kidney failure,
which ranks as the eighth leading cause of death among Filipinos.
The
Department of Health records show that more than 10,000 cases of patients with
kidney diseases are in dire need of transplants from deceased donors. But as of
this time, a national registry of organ donors has yet to be established for
this purpose.
To
encourage more participants in the organ donation for a cause campaign, the
renewed interest to promote the “I am a lifeline” campaign, this time in
partnership with various health professionals and stakeholders, hopes to change
the mindset of some Filipinos and be a lifeline for others to live in the event
of death.
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