Phl breaks India’s record on organ donation pledges

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines may again land in the Guinness Book of World Records after students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) broke India’s record for the most organ donation pledges in one hour in a single site, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

The DOH chose to tap the PUP for the health agency’s “I’m a Lifeline” campaign for organ donations because of the university’s huge student population and for being the record holder of the largest human rainbow in Guinness.

Based on automated counters, PUP had recorded 3,540 pledged organ donors from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. yesterday, beating India’s 2,755 in Ahmedabad, Guijarat on Sept. 17 last year.

“Past records were done in universities, so we were betting on PUP to break the records. And true enough, more than 3,000 have signed up here in PUP,” said DOH manager for Philippine Network on Organ Sharing (Philnos) Antonio Paraiso.

He, however, noted that the record would have to be validated by Guinness and results are expected in three weeks to three months.

Under the campaign, a pledged donor will be given an “I’m a Lifeline” donor card and there will be a national registry for organ donors.

“You will be a lifeline beyond life when you donate. You continue to live in somebody else’s body. You go on,” Paraiso said.

The Philippines is also bidding to break the 10,450 pledged organ donors in “eight hours in a single site” recorded set in Rohtak, Haryana, India on Dec. 1, 2013.

The country is also trying to set a new record on most pledges in eight hours in multiple sites.

Five other sign-up sites were set up for the campaign. These are Quezon City Circle in Quezon City; RTMC, San Fernando City, La Union; L. Mamba Gym in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; JMR Coliseum in Naga City; and in Almendr’s Gym, Davao City in Davao del Sur.

According to DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag, most Filipinos are not organ donors because of the stigma associated with the procedure.

“We would hear of many horror stories like the abduction of children so that their kidneys could be harvested. Don’t believe that, it is not true,” Tayag said.

He also noted that some people fear possible consequences if a person is opened up for organ donation.

But Tayag assured the public that organ donors are screened not only for compatibility but to ensure that they are fit to undergo the procedure.

Paraiso said that last year, there were only 36 organ donations recorded by Philnos but since 1983, there were more than 500 organ donors. But this is not enough as the country should be doing 11,000 to 12,000 transplantations every year.

Philnos records also show that there are 23,000 patients on dialysis who need to be transplanted with new kidneys. – With Evelyn Macairan