“My Organs Are Source of Hope”: a New Campaign for Organ Donation in the UAE

Dubai UAE

Sallam Sallam

A group of activists has launched a campaign on social media platforms to encourage organ donation after death in the UAE. The campaign, which has the slogan #My_Organs_are_Source_of_Hope is the first of its kind in the UAE to encourage this type of charitable work.

This campaign is part of the support offered by social media activists to “Hayat” App, which is linked to the National Program for Organ Donation launched by UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention in 2018. The App aims at organizing the process of organ transportation and transplantation as well as keeping human organs and tissues, preventing organ trafficking, protecting the rights of the persons who donate and receive the organs, and preventing any abuses of the patient or the donor, in line with Federal no.5 of 2016 regulating the transplantation of human organs and tissues.

“The Campaign launched on social media platforms by 3 activists aims at registering 5000 persons in Hayat App during October,” said Dr. Saif Darwish, Campaign Coordinator and Community and Public Health Specialist. He pointed that “the campaign was planned in a way which takes into account all age groups. So in order to attract children in the 6 to 18 age group, the campaign prepared a group of competitions including short-story writing, drawing, and photography, with motivational prizes. Regarding the 18 to 35 age group, the Campaign is using social media platforms to talk to them using Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, as well as different Podcast programs. For each of these platforms, a strategy has been set to take into account its unique nature and the different types of users. Regarding the age group 35 to 50, the focus has been put on remote interactive awareness sessions, in collaboration with a group of concerned community awareness institutions as well as through the different councils spread all over the country. The above-50 age group is targeted through different visual, printed, and audio media,” added Dr. Darwish. “We made sure that the Campaign is using English and Arabic to attract Arabic and English speakers, with some posts being in Indian language. We didn’t overlook the religious aspect; therefore, a group of religious scholars from different religions will be enrolled to list the virtues of organ donation. That way we will cover all community groups to increase awareness of the importance of organ donations and increase the number of registrations in Hayat App,” he concluded.

“The Campaign is inspired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who depicted how the Emirati character should be on social media platforms, stating that it should represent Sheikh Zayed and his manners in its interactions and reflect the knowledge, culture and elevated manners of the UAE,” said Public Health Specialist Badria Al-Harami. “Therefore, the Emirati character, as described by His Highness, should be helpful with its knowledge, spreading the community and charitable ideas and initiatives that enrich the country and adapting to its global context using its language and proactively contributing to its future,” added Dr. Badria.

She also added: “Social media platforms can be double-edged weapons. That is why it is very important for us to use them in favor of our country. We, as both social media activists and doctors and public health specialists at the same time, have a duty of serving the community with the knowledge we gained in our beloved country and we are always ready to serve the causes that serve the community.”

Safa Srour, Social Media Activist and Community Health Specialist, said: “One donor can make a huge difference, since s/he is able to save the lives of seven persons when donating two lungs, two kidneys, the heart, pancreas, and the liver. S/he can also enhance the lives of at least 75 persons through the different tissues that can be donated. So, we invite you all to participate in the Campaign. You can register in the App, use the hashtag “#My_Organs_Are_Source_of_Hope” in social media platforms and spread knowledge of the importance of organ donations among community members.”

“We would like to thank the Ministry of Health and Prevention for all the efforts it has been doing in the field of organ transplantation in the UAE,” said Srour.