‘Lifeline caravan’ visits Ilocos Norte

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.