‘Demand high’: 500 patients awaiting kidney donors
The Human Organ Preservation Effort of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (HOPE-NKTI) is encouraging the public to become organ donors for the more than 500 individuals in the country currently in need of a transplant.
According to Dr. Anthony Russel Villanueva, head of HOPE-NKTI, the average number of deceased organ donors in the hospital is “not increasing,” with only around 10 to 12 per year.
On the other hand, he said, there are now more than 500 patients in need of an organ transplant, based on the NKTI data from 2025.
Villanueva also reported that the hospital attended to 64,000 new dialysis patients in 2024.
The number of dialysis patients tend to increase by around 10 percent to 15 percent each year, with most of them qualifying for a kidney transplant, he added.
Culture factor
“The demand is high but the number of our organ donors is low, so we really need the help of everyone for advocacy. So that it would be in our culture to donate,” Villanueva told reporters on Friday.
“In other countries, it’s a great honor for them to donate. When you become an organ donor, you are a hero to the community. Hopefully we can have that same mindset,” he added.
To become an organ donor, the public can sign up by scanning the QR code that can be accessed through the HOPE-NKTI’s official Facebook page.
Villanueva explained that HOPE-NKTI deals with deceased organ donations, which involves patients who have already been declared as “brain dead.” Aside from organs, he said, bones and tissues, including corneas, can also be donated to help not just those with illnesses but also persons with disabilities.
One challenge
But before any organ can be donated, consent must be secured first from the family of the potential donor, he stressed, adding:
“By our experience, even if it’s in your license that you are an organ donor, we still need the consent of the legal next of kin.”
Villanueva acknowledged that obtaining such consent can be challenging. “Because we are (usually) an extended family, sometimes a sibling has already agreed but they want to wait for their sister’s or mother’s [agreement].”
“When it takes time, that is a challenge because of the viability of the organ. From brain death, there will come a time where the heart stops, and by then [the organ] is no longer viable for donation,” he explained.
To prevent this problem, Villanueva urged those who are planning to become organ donors to speak with their family regarding their decision.
“They are really the ones who decide. Maybe you consented on your personal [capacity], but of course, the family’s [consent] is still needed,” he said.
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