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A territory-wide promotional campaign was launched today (December 18) to drive home the message that organ donation can save lives and bring new hope to as many as 2000 patients awaiting an organ transplant.
Entitled "Light up lives, support organ donation", the campaign aims to encourage people to sign up for donating organs after death and to secure their families' support to make informed decision on behalf of their loved ones for such a worthy cause.
The campaign is jointly organised by the Department of Health (DH), the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Medical Association (HKMA). It will feature a wide variety of public education and promotional activities.
Speaking at the launching ceremony today (December 18), the Assistant Director of Health (Health Promotion), Dr Regina Ching, said that many patients had already exhausted all forms of available medical treatment and their last remaining hopes of recovery were to find suitable organ donors for organ transplants. Organ donation after death was of paramount importance in bringing the gift of life to these desperate patients.
"Individuals who are willing to be organ donors can simply sign organ donation cards or registry forms."
"Most importantly, that decision to donate one's organs after death should be made known to one's family so that the wish to save other's lives can be respected," Dr Ching sad.
Echoing the appeal, the Hospital Authority's Senior Executive Manager (Professional Services), Dr Beatrice Cheng, said advances in technology had made it possible for a patient with end stage organ failure to receive donated organs. However, this could only be done through the generosity of organ donors. Unfortunately, the availability of organs for transplant has not kept pace with the growing needs and the number of organ donations in Hong Kong remained low over the years.
"In 2005, the cadaveric (organ from deceased person) donation rate in Hong Kong was 4.2 per million population which lags behind other developed countries. The corresponding figures were 10.7 in the United Kingdom, 21.4 in the United States of America and 35.1 in Spain," she said.
Dr Cheng said the authority had recorded only 362 organ/tissue donations in Hong Kong in 2005 while 296 were reported as of September this year.
The figures fell short of demand as there were around 2000 patients on the waiting list for organ transplants as of September this year. Of them, about 1,400 were in need of kidney transplants, around 400 awaiting cornea donation and around 150 for a liver, she said.
Chairman of organ donation committee of the HKMA Dr Ho Chung Ping said any person, regardless of race or sex, could donate organs after death. "Suitable organs or tissues include kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, corneas, skin and bones. Doctors responsible for organ transplants will judge whether the donors﷿ organs are suitable for transplant."
Dr Ho also chatted with an organ recipient and a family member of an organ donor who told their own touching stories of the gift of life.
Local artiste, Miriam Yeung, was appointed as Organ Donation Ambassador to mark her support of organ donation.
Activities of the publicity drive include the display of posters at all MTR and KCR stations this month and next month (January), and roving exhibitions to be staged next year to spread the message across the community.
Car windscreen stickers promoting organ donation will be distributed to drivers during off-peak hours at all tunnel toll booths today and tomorrow.
Appeals have been made to various government departments, non-government organisations and private companies to solicit their support in making organ donation cards/forms readily accessible, actively encouraging their staff and clients to sign in as well as motivating their member/partner organisations to do likewise. As of yesterday (December 17) there were 31 supporting organisations. The drive will continue for much of 2007.
As a token of gratitude, the names of the supporting organisations will be listed on a dedicated website on organ donation (http://www.ha.org.hk/odhk) in recognition of their civic-mindedness.
To enhance awareness among the youth, the Department of Health will co-ordinate "train-the-trainer" sessions next year for young people and secondary school students. It is hoped that upon the completion of training, participants can help promote the organ donation message among their peers and family members.
Organ donation cards/forms can be obtained at the following public service outlets:
* Department of Health's Health Centres
* Hospital Authority's Institutions and Out-patient Clinics
* Home Affairs Department's District Offices
* Leisure and Cultural Services Department's Service Centres
* Transport Department's Licensing Offices, Driving Test Offices, Vehicle Examination Centre
* Water Supplies Department's Customer Enquiry Centres
* Treasury Department's Collection of Payment Office and Sub-Treasury
* Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service's Donor Centres
For more information about organ donation, people can visit the Organ Donation Website http://www.ha.org.hk/odhk or call the 24-hour health education hotline at 2833 0111.
Ends/Monday, December 18, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:26
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