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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
More than 270,000 people in Qatar have so far pledged to donate their organs to help save lives, according to officials.
The organ donor registry of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has more than 270,000 people registered.
HMC and the Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation (ALF) joined together to launch the Ramadan Voluntary Blood Donation campaign and the National Organ Donation campaign, which are being run for the seventh consecutive year.
The campaigns were launched by Founder and Chairman of ALF HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al Thani, at the City Center Mall.
Director of Organ Donation Campaign Dr Asmaa al Abdulghani said they started this campaign in 2012."Every year we have recorded the figure that was higher than the previous year for the past five years. We have a total of 270,000 people in our registry. Their organs will be available for transplant after their demise."
"The campaign has been successful over the years. We started with a few malls and now our campaign covers 35 locations across Qatar," Dr Asmaa said.
During Ramadan, they have 15 active locations all around Doha in different malls including Villaggio, Gulf Mall, Ezdan Mall and City Center.
"We will continue this until the end of the year to increase the number of pledges in our registry," she said, adding that the people have really changed their mindset regarding organ donation.
"It's now five years since we started the campaign. In the beginning, we faced a little difficulty, but now everyone is aware of the noble gesture of organ donation. We have been educating people about it by providing them with brochures and through messages via television and radio," she said.
The awareness has reached all the nationalities present in Qatar."The brochures are printed in five different languages. We approach people regardless of their nationalities, status and class," Dr Asmaa added.
She said her team has briefed more than 500 staff members who will be directly involved in the organ donation campaign.
"The multicultural team of campaign representatives will be able to support members of the public in making a decision about becoming an organ donor, and in most cases will be able to do it in their native language," she said.
On annual campaign, Sheikh al Thani said,"ALF has always been a key partner with HMC in these important campaigns which encourage public to donate blood and consider registering as an organ donor. The blood donation campaign fosters a culture of voluntary blood donation by educating the public on the importance of blood donation and how it can make a positive impact on the lives of many patients. Through our participation, we also aim to raise public awareness about the importance of organ donation by correcting any misconceptions the public may have about organ donation."
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