Organ Donation Campaign Gets a Further Boost from Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur

Private hospital aims to encourage more to pledge as donors. End Quote

Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease) October 14, 2010 - Various campaigns have been organized in the past to increase the awareness on organ donation. Unfortunately, the numbers tell a different story; less than 1% of the total population in Malaysia are registered donors.

According to the recent statistics by the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC), only 146,362 have pledged their organs, which is an insignificant number when compared to 26 million Malaysians.

For Amir Firdaus Abdullah, the Chief Executive Officer of Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur, a major factor behind the small numbers of registered donors is lack of awareness among the public on the importance of pledging as a donor.

And due to the same factor, even though 6000 to 7000 deaths are recorded annually due to road accidents, organs from these victims cannot be harvested to save lives of those who need it the most as majority of them did not register as organ donors.

"Even if only 10% of the numbers above have pledged, their organs can be harvested to save a live. It can make such a big difference for those who need these organs the most," said Amir.
However, Amir emphasized on the fact that many factors prevent one from pledging as a donor, including the lack of understanding about organ donation.

"Most family members disapprove any requests when the organs are to be harvested. Religious and legal issues are always the common misconception. This is hugely contributed by the lack of awareness and understanding about the process."

With that in mind, Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur (GKL) has taken a positive step to increase awareness amongst the public on the importance of organ donation.

Through the campaign that has been spearheaded by Pantai Group of Hospitals, GKL aims to encourage and pledge 100 donors per year.

"Organ donation is a gift of life. We hope that through this campaign, we can address a multitude of misconceptions among the public. Our team at GKL has been rigorously giving out brochures and registration forms since the initiation of this campaign on September 20 2010. We have and will continuously support this campaign spearheaded by Pantai Group of Hospitals."

This campaign is a follow through from an initial awareness programme staged at the Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, continuing a collaboration effort with the Sathya Sai Baba Central Council of Malaysia and the National Transplant Resource Centre.

Amir reiterated that the main objective of the campaign is to increase the understanding and awareness about organ donation and is not intended to force any individual to register or pledge as a donor.

And as sign of his commitment to the good cause, Amir along with the top management staff of GKL were among the first to pledge as donors during the campaign launch recently.

Also present was Datin Dr Lela Yasmin Mansor, Chief National Transplant Coordinator from the National Transplant Resource Centre who gave a talk on 'Organ Donation: Don't Let the Myths Confuse You.'
For a complete list of activities that will be organized by Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur for the upcoming National Organ Donation Awareness Week from 17 to 23 October 2010, visit www.gimc.com.my

About Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur
Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur commenced operations on 1 August 1996 and was officially opened by the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed on 16 December 1997.Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur comprises a 330-bed tertiary care hospital and a separate Medical Office Building (MOB) which accommodates consultants of various specialties and sub-specialties for outpatient services. Our continuous efforts in providing quality healthcare have gained us great recognition. In 2006, Gleneagles Hospital was the proud recipient of the Technology Business Review Award for Holistic Patient Care and the Best Hospital Award at the Asia Spa Wellness Awards. In 2007, yet another milestone was achieved when Reader's Digest crowned Gleneagles Hospital as The Most Trusted Brand under the hospital category of the Trusted Brands Awards. Gleneagles Hospital has been officially accepted as an organisational member of International Standard on Quality (ISQua) in health care since May 2009.

Media Contact for Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur:
Ms. Manminder Kaur Dhillon (Public Relations Consultant) +6012 652 3868 manminder ( @ ) intelectasia dot com

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