Carnival held to mark first Organ Donation Day cum eighth anniversary of launching of Centralised Organ Donation Register (with photos)
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The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, joined by the Under Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan; and the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH, Dr Wong Ka-hing, visited the carnival at the Garden of Life in Kowloon Park to share fun and joy with the public. Dr Ko called for the support of members of the public to register with the DH's CODR their wish to donate organs after death so that more lives can be saved.
To gather more community support for promoting organ donation, the Government launched the Organ Donation Promotion Charter in June this year. Since then, the Government has received tremendous support from different stakeholders on the promotional work of organ donation. To sustain the momentum of promoting organ donation, the Government has designated the second Saturday of November every year as Organ Donation Day and the anniversary of the launching of the CODR. Today marked the first Organ Donation Day in Hong Kong.
The DH set up the CODR in 2008 to make it more convenient for prospective donors to voluntarily register their wish to donate organs after death, and for such wishes to be more reliably recorded. The CODR enables medical personnel responsible for organ donation to know upon a patient's death about their wish to donate organs, and the bereaved family to acknowledge the deceased's wish to rekindle lives of other people.
Registration at the CODR is a very convenient and simple process. People only need to provide their name, Hong Kong identity card number, contact telephone number, email or contact address, and their wish to donate organs. By November 4 this year, the number of CODR registrations had exceeded 232 000.
In addition, the Government launched a territory-wide organ donation promotion campaign, "Say Yes to Organ Donation", last month. As one of the major initiatives of the promotion campaign, today's carnival featured an organ donation registration booth, fun games, a balloon-twisting performance, and instant photo-taking services for the public to share fun and joy with their family and friends. Organ recipients and a family member of an organ donor also shared their experiences at the carnival.
Another major initiative of the promotion campaign, the DH's organ donation promotion vehicle launched on November 1, also visited the Garden of Life today. The promotion vehicle will continue to visit different locations in the 18 districts this month. A parade bus also travelled to various locations across the territory today to promote organ donation in order to echo today's celebration activities.
Moreover, the DH will set up organ donation promotion booths at various locations, including MTR stations, across the territory in the coming two months to remind the public on the Organ Donation 3S's, which are "Sign up at CODR", "Speak out your wish to family", and "Spread out to family and friends and get their support".
For more information on organ donation and its promotion activities, the public may visit DH's thematic website (www.organdonation.gov.hk). They are also invited to "like" and share the DH's Organ Donation@HK Facebook page (www.fb.com/organdonationhkeng) and to follow the latest information.
Ends/Saturday, November 12, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:52
Issued at HKT 16:52
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