ORGAN DONATION – Central News Hub

MoHAP celebrates World Organ Donation Day

UAE takes practical steps to regulate organ transplantation according to highest quality standards and ethics of medical practice. Organ donations offer a wide range of advantages, such as fostering family harmony and community cohesiveness while also promoting the principles of cooperation and solidarity in society…reports Asian Lite News

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has joined the world in commemorating the “World Organ Donation Day”, to highlight the country’s achievements in regulating the transfer, transplantation, preservation, and development of human organs and tissues.

World Organ Donation Day is observed every year on August 13 across the globe to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation and to encourage people to do the same.

In 2020, the UAE established the National Center to Regulate Organs and Tissues Transplantation under the subordination of MoHAP. In addition to supporting the UAE’s health system, the center also contributes to strengthening medical and social care for organ donation and transplantation in accordance with international quality standards and medical ethics.

The center’s establishment has been a big step forward in strengthening and complementing the National Program for Organ Transplantation, which gives any UAE resident over the age of 21 the chance to express his/her desire to donate organs after brain death. Along with having a good effect on the lives of both donors and receivers, the initiative has benefited many patients and given them newfound hope.

HE Dr Mohammed Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), stressed that the UAE possesses the necessary resources, tools, and expertise to excel while implementing the National Program for Organ Transplantation, including highly qualified medical cadres, state-of-the-art medical facilities, and cutting-edge technological infrastructure, as well as international partnerships with the most prestigious institutions specializing in organ transplantation.

Al Olama reaffirmed the need to constantly stepping up national efforts to facilitate and improve the process of transferring and transplanting human organs and tissues on the one hand and providing technologically advanced health services for patients in need of human organ or tissue transplant on the other.

A word by HE Dr. Mohammad Salim Al Olama, MoHAP’s Undersecretary, and HE Ahmed Ali Al Dashti, Assistant Undersecretary for the Support Services Sector at MoHAP on World Organ Donation Day. #MoHAP_UAE #WorldOrganDonationDay #Hayat_Organ_Donation_Program pic.twitter.com/W4zmKUtvUY
— وزارة الصحة ووقاية المجتمع – MOHAP UAE (@mohapuae) August 13, 2022

For his part, Ahmed Ali Al Dashti, Assistant Undersecretary for the Support Services Sector, emphasized that the UAE is making every possible effort to develop and regulate organ transplantation and support the country’s excellence in providing treatment programs.

“We are committed to strengthening the integration of our health system by adopting progressive and creative initiatives in accordance with the best international quality standards,” Al Dashti said.

He underscored that organ donations offer a wide range of advantages, such as fostering family harmony and community cohesiveness while also promoting the principles of cooperation and solidarity in society.

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Parents proud that son’s death saved four lives

Finally, the cross-match of several potential recipients led to the identification of matching recipients for kidneys and pancreas in the PGIMER…reports Asian Lite News.

For a father, it was a tough call to save the lives of four persons by donating the organs of his 35-year-old son, but he felt it was the right call.

Ram Bachan, the grief-stricken father of Ajayesh Kumar, said on Friday that he consented for organ donation when his son was declared brain dead by the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMR) here.

“It was a very tough call, but still we felt that it was the right call,” said Bachan, after consenting for organ donation when his son was declared brain dead.

Incidentally, the World Organ Donation Day is observed across the globe on August 13 (Friday).

“In fact, the organ donation affirmed for us that saying ‘no’ would mean denying other people the chance to live, making their families undergo the same unbearable pain which we are confronted with after losing our son in his prime.

“Who would know more than us what it means and how it hurts. So we had to say ‘yes’ to organ donation,” Bachan said with moist eyes.

Ajayesh Kumar, 35, a resident of Ropar in Punjab, was admitted to the PGIMER following a fatal road accident on July 23.

Since then, it has been a battle between life and death for Kumar though neither the family nor the attending medical team left any stone unturned to save him.

But as was destined, Kumar’s condition became irretrievable on August 9. Assessing this, PGIMER’s internal committee, after meeting twice, found the parameters matching with brain death and eventually he was declared brain dead on the evening of August 9.

In the meantime, transplant coordinators at the PGIMER apprised the deceased’s relatives of the prospects of utilising his organs through donation for transplants to terminally ill organ failure patients.

With the deceased’s wife Sushma and his father Ram Bachan consenting to the proposal of organ donation, the departments concerned started reaching out to the matching recipients.

Finally, the cross-match of several potential recipients led to the identification of matching recipients for kidneys and pancreas in the PGIMER.

Sushma, the courageous wife of the donor, said, “My husband was very caring and sacrifice was virtually his second nature. Compassion and helping others was the core of his being. So organ donation has been the extension of his generous spirit only. With this final act, the good has come full circle.”

Detailing about the latest cadaver organ donation, Vipin Koushal, Additional Medical Superintendent and Nodal Officer of Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO), said, “The kidneys and pancreas harvested from the deceased enabled second lease of life to two patients battling for survival here.”

“The retrieved corneas restored the sight of two corneal blind patients, impacting the lives of four patients in all. I earnestly hope that the donor family’s selfless gesture inspires more people to say ‘yes’ to organ donation and help save those dying waiting for a transplant,” Koushal added. “The basic premise of observing World Organ Donation Day (on August 13) every year is to motivate people to join the cause and pledge for organ donation. Nothing can be more motivational on this day than actually saving lives through organ donation,” said PGIMER Director Jagat Ram.

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