Organ donation from brain-dead persons pushed

FILE: Health Secretary Francisco Duque III answers questions from the media at the launching of the TB awareness projects and module event in Quezon City. (Photo by Joey O. Razon via PNA)

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) is encouraging families to consider organ donation of deceased relatives, including those who have been declared legally and medically brain-dead, to help others in need of transplantation.

“Through organ donation, one deceased human being can potentially save and dramatically improve the quality of life of eight or more individuals,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement on Saturday.

Republic Act (RA) No. 7170, or the Organ Donation Act of 1991, as amended by RA 7885, allows organ and tissue donations from donors who have been declared brain-dead.

Human transplantable organs include the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, intestines, and pancreas, in addition to human tissues such as eye tissues (corneas, sclera, etc.), bones, skin, and blood vessels.

According to the release, the DOH also discourages incentivized organ donations, where living organ donors not related to the recipient are motivated by financial rewards, as this exposes both donor and recipient to further injury.

World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2017 show that deaths caused by various end-stage organ diseases involved up to 230,000 Filipinos, which may have been prevented by organ transplantation.

The DOH , however, noted the “dismally low” organ donation from brain-dead patients in the Philippines.

It said that to heighten awareness on the benefits of organ sharing, a presidential proclamation is being proposed, designating the month of September of every year as “National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month”.

With the campaign slogan, “Dugtong Buhay: Ako, Kabahagi Mo!”, the program underscores the Filipino spirit of “bayanihan” where those extending help do not expect anything in return.

The DOH said that through the Philippine Organ Donation and Transplantation Program and the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing, it continues to sustain advocacy and educational campaigns on deceased organ donation.

“The DOH recognizes the noble and altruistic act of saving a life through committing one’s organs or tissues upon one’s death. This can be done by signing up as organ donor cardholders and providing consent to organ donation. Indeed, organ donors are heroes of our times,” Duque said.