Organ donors asked to inform kin of pledges

MANILA - The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (Philnos) asked close to 18,000 individuals who signed up to become organ donors to inform their families about the decision.

In an interview, DOH- Philnos program manager Dr. Antonio Paraiso said the donors must tell their families that they opt to become “lifelines” for other people in need of organ transplant.

Paraiso said this may help lessen the cases of opposition from the donor’s relatives.

While the Organ Dona- tion Act of 1991 states that the family may not object to the harvesting of the organs if the one making the donation has already agreed to it, the Philnos manager said a doctor will probably not risk being insulted and become the focus of the family’s

anger should there be an opposition.

He issued the appeal after the Philippines, through the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) broke the world record for the most number of people signing up as organ donors in a single site inside an hour after getting 3,548 pledges, breaking India’s record of 2,755.

It also set new world records for 10,120 pledges in an hour in multiple sites and 17,856 prospective donors gathered in eight hours in multiple sites.

But the country failed to break the most number of organ donor pledges gathered in eight hours in a single site at 10,450 also held by India.

This after the PUP event last Friday only totaled to 8,063 organ donation pledges.

“We will have a continuing program, where we will go all over the Philippines and make every DOH hospital an accredited donor center. You can become a lifeline through them,” said Paraiso. (HDT/SUNNEX)