August is Organ Donor month and The Open Eye Foundation encourages to educate people and create awareness for organ donation in South Africa.
The organization says in 2011 Mosa Mphore who is a member of the Open Eye Foundation was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure when he was only 23-years-old. He was one of the few people who received an organ donation after waiting impatiently for a miracle to happen. Today Mphore travels the lengths and breaths of South Africa to create awareness of organ donation and educating communities about the importance of donating and saving lives.
The Open Eye Foundation will be having 80/80km walk on 26 October in Bela-Bela, Polokwane to raise awareness on organ and tissue donation. Educating one donor for every kilometer that is walked and the organization aims to find Tseko Ngakane a kidney donor.
Gauteng News spoke top Mosa and he says Ignorance about organ donor contributes to the shortage of organ donation in South Africa and the organization aims to change how people view organ donations.
“Recent statistics provided by the Western Cape Government and Organ Donation Foundation of South Africa show that roughly 4300 adults and children are waiting for organ donations in South Africa, and only 0.2% of the population are registered organ donors.”
Professor Magda Slabert an expert in medical law at Unisa’s College of Law added that, “The two biggest reasons for the shortage of organ and tissue transplant, including skin, bone and tendons, was the lack of knowledge among South Africans about organ donation. This is not necessarily a cultural or religious issue. The main obstacle is ignorance, which is then thrown under the carpet of culture. Once you engage and explain how organ donation works, there is much greater acceptance”.
Mphore continues to make a significant impact in educating communities about organ donor and hopes communities will change their perception about the need to donate and saving lives.
