DOH team drums up advocacy on deceased organ donation

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — A team from the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (PhilNOS) of the Department of Health was in this city recently to promote organ donation from the deceased and raise awareness against commercialization of organ donation or organ trafficking.

PhilNOS, in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency, conducted a symposium on the advocacy on deceased organ donation at the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, participated by at least 50 medical professionals.

Helen Rose Baclig, chief transplant coordinator of PhilNOS, said her group has plans to stage on November 8 an event to get a Guinness World record of having the most number of people signing up for deceased organ donation. This was intended to change the mindset of Filipinos that whenever organ transplant is mentioned, payment immediately comes to mind, she said.

The government also aimed to draw the line between payment and the Filipino culture of “utang na loob” (returning favor). It should be “organ sharing or donation, not organ selling,” according to PhilNOS.

Republic Act 7170 (Organ Donation Act of 1991) recognizes brain death as another criterion for dead donors. Potential multiple organ donors are those who died from vehicular crash, gunshot wounds, and blunt head injuries. Ideal donors are those aged 10-39 years old, have no hypertension, no terminal creatinin and whose death is due to non-cerebro-vascular accident, like stroke.

Excluded criteria for deceased donors are those aged 70 years old and above, with malignancy, sepsis, and intravenous drug abuse, said PhilNOS.

Approximate preservation time frame of organs from deceased donors are four to six hours for heart, three to five hours for heart and lung, 24 to 48 hours for kidney, and eight to 12 hours for liver.

Baclig explained that promoting deceased organ donation will help curb organ trafficking and reduce unrelated living organ donation, since there will be organs available for transplantation for patients with end-stage vital organ disease, most of whom have chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.

The government, through PhilNOS, is also coming up with the Philippine Organ Donor and Recipient Registry System for all kidney transplantations, she said.

There would be three national registries to be maintained: 1) For all kidney transplantations performed in the country, 2) for all placed living donors—that is living related donor (LRD) and directed living non-related donors (LNRD), and 3) for all patients seeking kidney transplantation. (FREEMAN)