Doha: The number of registered organ donors in the country has reached 370,000 showing an increase of around nine percent since Ramadan. As a result of ongoing national level awareness campaigns, the Organ Donor Registry receives between 400 and 500 people to register as potential donors on a daily basis.
Members of the public were asked to consider giving the gift of life and register to become an organ donor as part of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) annual organ donation campaign, which was launched during Ramadan at shopping malls and other prominent locations across the country. The campaign will run until December.
Since the beginning of the campaign and until the last week 25,000 people have registered as donors, according to Dr Asma Al Abdulghani, Director of HMC’s Organ Donation Campaign.
“The number of registered donors have increased from 340,000 to 370,000 since Ramadan. It has been five years since we started the Ramadan campaign. In the beginning, it was difficult but now everyone is aware of organ donation because we ran high number of awareness activities through different channels and approached people,” said Dr Al Abdulghani.
“Initially the campaign was for 40 days from Ramadan. Since last year, because the number of registered donors has been gradually increasing, we did an agenda that will run the year. So We will start by Ramadan and do until December 18,” she added.
The donor registry is a confidential national list of people who are willing to become organ donors after their death. It can be quickly accessed in the event of a death to see whether an individual has registered as a donor. An organ transplant can be a life-saving procedure and can significantly improve the quality of life for someone with chronic organ failure. These life-saving organs come from deceased donors who have pledged during their lifetime to give their organs to someone in need. A deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives.
The awareness campaign is being held at 14 locations across Qatar. As part of the annual campaign, information booths staffed by Qatar Organ Donation Center (Hiba) representatives are providing members of the public with information about becoming a registered organ donor, including the process involved and the benefits.
The annual campaign also allows the public to ask questions about organ donation and transplantation. Individuals who are interested in becoming a donor are able to register at the booths and receive their donor card on the spot.
“We are also visiting communities, schools and ministries. So we are covering a huge area and we have seen big success with registering high number of people as donors,” said Al Abdulghani.
