More organ donors cut patient waiting time

The number of registered organ donors and donations in Qatar has increased significantly since 2012, helping reduce the waiting time for patients needing transplants, says a senior official.
Over the years, the number of people registering as ‘deceased’ organ donations has increased and reached 190,000 and ‘living’ donations have also gone up as a result of continued awareness programmes, said Dr Riadh Fadhil, Director, Qatar Organ Donation Center (Hiba).  He was speaking on Saturday on the sidelines of a Ramadan organ and blood donation campaign at City Center Doha by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) with support of Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation (Alf).
The two campaigns — now in their sixth year — were officially inaugurated by Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman, Board of Trustees, ALF, together with officials from the HMC.  This year’s organ donation campaign started on the first day of the Holy Month of Ramadan and will run until the end of the year in various locations around Qatar including 14 shopping malls. It aims at registering around 230,000 potential donors.
Deceased donors are those who have pledged during their life to give organs to someone in need. They include cases in which the family agrees on organ donation after the person’s death. Living donors donate a kidney or part of the liver while they are alive.
“Organ donation campaign is something we started in 2012 and within a short time it has broken all records. We started with 2,000 registered donors, now we are looking at 70,000 to 80,000 every year and have a total of 190,000 registered donors,” said Dr Fadhil.
“This year 5,000 people registered since we started the campaign. During a campaign, among the HMC staff 2,600 have registered as organ donors which is about 10 percent of the entire staff. These people have registered as deceased donors. Their organs will be shared among patients on the unified waiting list for transplant.
“In regard to living donors, it has increased among Qataris and now 80 percent of the Qatari patients with renal failure are bringing their relatives as donors. For expatriates whose families are living abroad, we bring their donor here at our expense. This year so far we have brought four donors to donate to their recipient residing in Qatar,” he added.  According to Dr Fadil, within five months of this year, a record number of kidney and liver transplants have been undertaken with donations from living and deceased donors.
During the organ donation campaign in Ramadan, HMC aims to raise public awareness about organ donation and is asking the community to consider giving the gift of life and registering as an organ donor. This is part of HMC’s annual organ donation campaign.
The campaign will see booths in shopping malls and other prominent locations around the country, staffed by Qatar Organ Donation Center (Hiba) staff.
The public will be able to find out more about becoming a registered organ donor, what it entails and its benefits, as well as having their questions about organ transplantation answered. They will also be able to register as a donor on the spot and receive a donor card.
“Under the Doha Donation Accord, we make sure we look after the donors and their families. For living donors, we provide health insurance for life, as well as covering any loss of income due to working days missed during the operation and recovery. We also honour our donors during an annual ceremony for giving this precious gift to someone who badly needs it. A deceased donor's family receives the support of our Social Service Department and our government covers all
hospital expenses,” said Dr Fadil.