NOBLE GESTURE: Undergrads making pledges to donate their organs.
CURTIN University in Miri received 100 pledges in a recent campaign to get more people to donate their organs.
Organising chairperson Marzuki from Medan, Indonesia, went bald even before the target was reached.
His enthusiasm was contagious, triggering an overwhelming response to and a good in-campus awareness of the need for organ pledging.
Curtin’s organ donation drive has warmed the hearts of the lecturers, students and the community.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations the world over have been conducting campaigns to get people to pledge their organs to save lives over the last 20 years or so. And in this living-saving push, Miri is in the forefront in the state.
Organ pledging and donation campaigns in the Division are held as often as possible by volunteers — they are not once-a-year events.
“However greater awareness should created everyday,” advocated retired teacher Teresa Wong.
She and her husband already pledged their organs a few years ago.
“I can be a living donor for a kidney and a part of my liver, and my husband is willing too. There is no harm in that,” she said.
Curtin students writing their pledges on the campaign board.
Saiful, one of Miri Red Crescent’s longest serving staff, has pledged to donate all his organs.
“After all, when our souls have gone to heaven, we should give our organs to some people who need them.
We don’t really have to keep these organs. We cannot take them with us, anyway,” he said.
Looking at some developed countries, we see that organs donation and pledging is gathering momentum.
In neighbouring Singapore, HOTA (Human Organ Transplant Act) assumes all citizens (except Muslims) are willing organs donors. The ONLY caveat is if a citizen has explicitly opted out.
Originally, HOTA only allowed for the harvesting and transplantation of kidneys but was expanded in 2004 to include livers, corneas and hearts.
A further amendment in 2008 allowed for Muslim residents (exempted from mandatory donation) to receive the same priority if the need arose for them to have an organ transplant themselves.
Outside of this policy (for a Muslim), if you have opted out of HOTA, you subsequently fall to the bottom of the waiting list should you need an organ transplant in the future.
Singapore performed an average of 49 transplants per year over the last decade. The city state is not the only country with regulations requiring mandatory organ donation. Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Spain all have similar laws.
CAMPAIGN: A banner to encourage the public to pledge their organs in Miri.
In Australia, for example, there were about 1,080 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in Australia last year but only 237 live kidney donors. About 290 Australians donate an organ each year.
In the latest development, the Australian government is planning to spend about £890,000 on donor payments over the next two years. Each donor will be paid a weekly £414 for six weeks while he or she is not working. To many Australians, this is a fair deal.
Lending a hand to the Red Crescent, the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities (MAPCU) Organ Donation Campaign 2012-2013 was initiated to increase public awareness of organ and tissue donation, and motivate Malaysians to become donors by tackling misconceptions on organs donation.
The slogan is Give a Life, Gift of Life and the campaign is supported by the National Transplant Resource Centre, a subsidiary of the Health Ministry.
In Malaysia, the number of people who have pledged to donate organs from 1997 to January this year has reached 214,687 — less than one per cent of the population. However, awareness is being raised gradually through campaigns and very hard-working volunteers.
According to Lina, one of the helpers in a Miri Organ Donation Campaign, held at the Bintang Mall recently, there are many obstacles or beliefs in the way of organs donation.
First, most families do not hold with their members pledging their organs. Secondly, they feel it is not auspicious for them to give away their organs. And thirdly, they have a lot of fear over pledging — worried that their organs will be “harvested” even before they breathe their last.
Many college students who visited the Organs Pledging stall at Bintang Mall said they were very positive about organs donation and were willing to pledge all their organs to save lives. They feel it’s a good thing to do — leaving something behind in this world.
Public and private organisations can call up the Red Crescent in Miri to set up organs pledging counters at their functions.
In this way, more awareness can be raised of organs donation. The Miri Red Crescent mobile number is 0168674138 if you need more information.
According to Miri Red Crescent life member Dr Uma Devi, donating organs is a very spiritual act.
“What’s wrong with leaving some organs in one’s will? What’s wrong with pledging one’s organs? We humans should be free to dispose of our organs in any way we want,” she said.
Though retired, Dr Uma still works part time at the Miri Polyclinic. She continues to give talks on health and healthy eating especially in the rural areas.