Deceased organ donation campaign hits CAR

THE DEPARTMENT of Health, through the Health Facility Development Bureau’s Philippine Organ Donation and Transplantation Program, in partnership with the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing brought the Deceased Organ Donation Advocacy Campaign in Cordillera thru a two – day forum in Baguio City.

DOH – Cordillera OIC Regional Director Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, in welcoming the participants from the different hospitals and health centers in the region, said it is saddening that In the Philippines, despite the well – equipped health facilities, expertise of health practitioners especially doctors who specialized in organ transplantation, and improved healthcare services to save more lives, many patients with end stage organ failure diseases die because of lack of organ donors.

Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center Nephrologist Dr. Virginia Mangati, in her presentation on the status of Chronic Kidney Disease in the Philippines and in Cordillera, said that though Transplantation is the best medical option for chronic kidney failure patients, the lack of donors remains a concern.

On the average of 70,000 patients that are on dialysis treatment in a year, only 400 undergo kidney transplant.

Philippine Network for Organ Sharing Transplant coordinator Gerard Paolo Villanueva, in presenting the current status and updates on the Deceased Organ Donation Program, disclosed that of the 147 patients in their transplantation waiting list, 131 are awaiting kidney donors.

The learning sessions in the forum include Philippine Neurologist Association’s

Brain Death Criteria of 2017, Cornea Donation and the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines, facts about liver transplant, deceased donor identification and evaluation, and diseased organ transplant recipient enlistment and deceased organ donor allocation.

There was also a presentation on PhilHealth Z Benefit Package and there were also sharing of experiences/challenges as a transplant facility and as a transplant coordinator in a medical center, as well as testimonials from organ donor and from a recipient.