Phl Guinness record: Most organ donation pledges in multiple sites

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines set Guinness’ first record on “most people to sign up as organ donors for eight hours in multiple sites” last Friday, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

The Philippine Information Agency said a total of 17,856 organ donation pledges were registered in six sign-up sites nationwide, including the main site at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

PUP had recorded 8,063 pledges while Quezon City Memorial Circle had 1,270; La Union, 3,471; Naga, 1,532; Davao, 1,947 and Tuguegarao, 1,573.

According to Antonio Paraiso, DOH program manager for Philippine Network for Organ Sharing, the new pledged organ donations will be added to the list of over 5,000 nurses and doctors who are included in the national registry of Organ Donation signees in the Philippines.

On Friday, PUP and La Union have beaten India’s record of 2,755 pledges in “one hour in a single site” in Sept. 17, 2013 when they posted 3,548 and 3,471 pledges, respectively.

But PUP was not able to break India’s 10,450 pledges in a single site for eight hours as the university posted only 8,063 pledges.

The records, however, will have to be validated by Guinness. The DOH is expected to set documentation in 10 days while results may come out within three weeks to three months.

“(We are) honestly happy because the feat will bring organ donation to the Filipinos’ consciousness. But I think we could have done better,” Paraiso said.

He said that in PUP alone, there are already more than 27,000 students, 18 years old and above while its faculty and staff number around 3,000.

“Our 8,000-plus PUP registrants is roughly one-fourth of the potential (donors). Half of them filled up the forms but only half showed up. We still have to analyze why,” Paraiso added.

The statement showed the DOH came up with the “I’m a Lifeline” campaign to drum up awareness about organ donation and to dispel the negative perceptions about the procedure.

“The need for organ lifelines in the Philippines grows graver through time, with a total of 100,215 people in the wait list for organ transplants as of this week. Through this event, we are able to secure more lives and lessen the number of patients failing to continue their journey while waiting for available organs,” Paraiso said.