YES, IT’S weird to hear, but badly needed.
I am referring to the newest mission of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City.
Said Dr. Julius Drilon, chief of hospital of CLMMRH, they were tasked by both the Department of Health and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) to drumbeat the cadaver organ donor program.
What is this?
Doc Drilon said they have to do a generic campaign in Bacolod and in all towns and cities of Negros Occidental for kidney donation from the dead and/or dying person(s).
It sounds bizarre but Doc Drilon said such advocacy is stipulated under Republic Act 7170 (Organ Donation Act of 1991).
The statute, for the information of everyone, authorizes the legacy or donation of all parts of the human body after death for a specified purpose.
But Doc Drilon admitted that advocating this ain’t easy.
Why?
One hindrance is the indigenous belief that it’s bad or there’s a curse if we donate kidney or other parts of the human body of our dead loved ones.
Yes, kinda weird, thus, I do believe it will take time for CLMMRH’s men and women to ace this kind of advocacy.
PH’S ‘7TH KILLER’
Doc Drilon, however, underpinned the facts that 65,000 Filipinos are currently being dialyzed due to kidney ailments.
And once you’re being dialyzed, Doc Drilon adds, there’s no more hope except for a kidney transplant.
CLMMRH, Doc Drilon discloses, caters to an average of six to seven kidney dialysis patients per day. This is worst, considering that kidney disease is the Philippines’ “7th Killer”, Doc. Drilon emphasizes.
This is the reason why on June 21, CLMMRH and NTKI inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the Organ Donation Advocacy Program (ODAP) in Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
Drilon admitted that this not an easy mission. He is sure this will be met by lots of “humps and bumps”.
Yet, he stressed, “We don’t have a choice for the sake of at least 4.3 million people in the entire Negros Island now.”
He assures the public that CLMMRH, being the only regional hospital on Negros Island, will do this advocacy single-handedly sans “ifs and buts”.
“ODAP is one of the 13 specialties tasked to CLMMRH by the Department of Health (DOH) to take care of the overall health topography in Bacolod and Negros,” Doc Drilon said.
BADLY NEEDED
But lamented Doc Drilon, “Diutay lang gid ang naka-intiyende kon nga-a dapat naton i-donar na lang ang kidney sang mga patay ukon naga-higumatayon na (Only few understand why we should donate the kidney of the dead or of the dying.”
But he stressed they need to go out, conduct information and education campaign (IEC) and even hold town hall discussions in communities about organ donation, especially the cadaver donor program.
“It is badly needed,” he declared.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Peter Paul Plegaria, chief transplant coordinator of the Human Organ Preservation Effort (HOPE) of NKTI, also underscored the significance of organ donation, especially on Deceased Organ Donation Referral Process, emphasizing its life-saving impact.
“Your decision to donate can light up countless lives — giving hope, health, and happiness to those in need. Every organ donated is a step towards a brighter, healthier future for Filipinos,” he stated.
Dr. Alexander Kent Achurra, head of the Kidney Transplant Unit (KTU) of NTKI, also said, “With the support of NKTI, the country’s leading hospital for renal care and transplantation, healthcare workers from various institutions in Negros Occidental will enhance their efforts in saving lives through organ donation and transplantation.”
Drilon said with the assured technical assistance to be extended by NTKI, CLMMRH is ready or capable to perform kidney transplantation in terms of human resources (surgeons) and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
‘SAVING LIFE AFTERLIFE’
From www.byjus.com, there’s this an article that organ donation is a valuable act. It saves life afterlife.
Quite easy to understand. The dead won’t rise anew. But donating his/her kidney for somebody needing it badly is such a noblest act – it will add up to his/her life.
If we continue to succumb to our own belief that it’s odd to extract someone’s kidney when he/she is already dead, then we will be stuck to this primitive thinking amid digitalization. Let’s be open to new ideas offered by life-saving science and technology.
Helping CLMMRH on this cadaver organ donation program could be noteworthy.
What Doc Drilon needs right now is openness – of heart and mind – from the public to accept the challenge: donate the kidney of your dead loved ones.
Let’s do it now!/PN
