AROUND 13,000 new cases of kidney failure are recorded every year, but patients who receive organ transplants has plateaued to only around three percent of the figure, physicians said Thursday.
Kidney experts bared this data as they also launched the Renal Gift Allowing Life for Others (Regalo) advocacy that aims to increase awareness of kidney donation and encourage more Filipinos to become organ donors.
To date, diabetes and hypertension, which are both lifestyle diseases, are now the top causes of kidney failures in the country, surpassing inflammation which was previous primary cause.
“Kidney donors in the country are not sufficient,” said Dr. Romina Danguilan, Regalo organizing committee head.
Filipinos who undergo kidney dialysis continue to increase by 15 percent every year, but Danguilan noted that organ donation remains the most preferable treatment for its lasting effects.
“In kidney transplant, you get a better survival and a higher quality of life,” she said.
The advocacy also targets to clear the “myths” on organ donation, such as health and social threats to the donor.
“All of us have two kidneys, but we can donate one and still live a normal life,” the physician explained.
But organ donation in the country still suffers from bumps, including contradicting policies, lack of information, misconceptions and lack of inclusive support from health groups, said Dr. Remedios Uriarte, executive director of the Kidney Foundation of the Philippines.
“[The process] is hard. We don’t just need financial assistance. We need other groups and individuals to work with us,” she said.
“The longer we become indifferent, the more [end-stage renal disease] patients will be deprived of transplantation and the more they will die,” Uriarte added.
Former President Fidel Ramos, who also lost one of his kidneys in 1950 but continues to lead a productive life for 66 years now, urged Filipinos to help those who need transplants.
“Giving up one of your organs is daring for [the sake of] others, for our country, for those in need,” he said. “Let us replicate the message of caring, giving, sharing, and daring. This is our duty as Filipinos.”
The doctors also noted that both living and deceased donors can help fill the gap in organ donation. Living donors will undergo serum creatinine or blood test, urinalysis, and blood pressure examination.