DAVAO City will be one of the six locations the Department of Health - Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (DOH-Philnos) have selected to take part in their bid to break two and create two new Guinness World Records.
DOH-Philnos is set to break the record of most people to sign up as organ donors in one hour and eight hours, single site and to create a new record for one hour and eight hours multiple site.
According to the Guinness World Records website, the most people to sign up as organ donors in eight hours single site is 10,450 and was achieved by Indian National Students Organisation - INSO (India), at Sir Chhotu Ram stadium, Rohtak, Haryana, India, on Dec. 1, 2013; while the most people to sign up as organ donors in one hour single site is 2,755 and was achieved by Prakash Gurjar & Madadgar Parivar (both India), in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on September 17 2013.
DOH-Philnos program manager Dr. Antonio R. Paraiso, who was a guest in I-Talks at Seda Hotel on Tuesday, said the event will be held on Feb. 28 at the Almedras Gym Davao City Recreation Center.
"We are inviting everyone to go there not to donate but to become potential donors should the opportunity arise. There will be no medical operations and examinations but all you need to do is to fill up a form," he said.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be held simultaneously in San Fernando, Naga, Tuguegarao, Manila (PUP Campus) and Marikina.
Paraiso said they hold the event in order to educate the people about organ donation.
"With all the negative aspects and connotations with organ donation, we felt that we needed to make something else. We hired a creative consultant and he told us that the name 'organ donation' was the problem why very few are organ donors," he said, adding that organ donation rate in the country is .03 per million people.
Paraiso said when people say organ donation, what enters people's mind are negative connotations like organ sale, trafficking, and paranoia, to name a few.
The creative consultant told them to use the term "lifeline" instead which has better connotations. He said instead of organ donors, those who will be signing up will be called "lifelines."
"If we call them lifeline, it can be something one can be proud about. Also we hope to remove the bad connotation of being an organ donor," he said.
Paraiso said they will not be inviting Guinness validators to come due to constraints but they will strictly follow the requirements to ensure validity and they have formed a technical group to ensure that they have complied with the requirements.
Lifelines will each receive an organ donor card that will be distributed by the organizers after the event.
"If you sign up you will be a priority patient if you are in need of an organ," Paraiso said.
Dr. Maria Theresa Bad-ang said in preparation for Feb. 28, they are coordinating with the city council so that the event will be promoted. They will also coordinate with barangays in orienting potential lifelines days before the event.