The campaign will run until the end of the holy month to encourage the Qatari community to donate blood or register to be organ donors.

The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), in partnership with Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim’s Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation (ALF), has launched the 11th edition of the annual Ramadan blood and organ donation drive.

The campaign will target various locations across Qatar, encouraging the local community to step forward and donate blood or register as organ donors.

Doha’s bustling marketplaces and shopping centres, such as City Centre Mall, will feature mobile blood donation centres.

The Blood Donation Center, the Qatar Organ Donation Center and the National Organ Transplant Program will carry out these field drives under the supervision of the HMC.

Remark on the success of the campaign over the years, Nayef Al Shamari, the executive director of the HMC’s media department, said: “The continuous success of the annual blood and organ donation campaign confirms the significant awareness among the public to support and enrich the blood bank inventory, as well as their willingness to register in the organ donor registries after death.”

Blood and organ donation a ‘national duty’

This year’s initiative was especially important for ALF to increase awareness about the importance of blood and organ donations for society.

Among the missions of the ALF is to develop and empower individuals and families within the health sector by positively contributing to meaningful voluntary and charitable drives.

During the launch of this year’s campaign, Sheikh Faisal said that the Ramadan blood and organ donor initiative echoes the sense of national duty to Qatar within ALF’s ethos and among its leadership.

For Abdul Latif Al Yafei, General Manager at ALF, this cooperation with the HMC also contributes to “realising the visionary goals of ALF to be a leading national, humanitarian, and global institution aspiring to enhance sustainable development and dignified living, and to bridge cultural and humanitarian communication with society by providing a wide range of developmental options.”

In Qatar, the organ donor registry lists 530,000 people, accounting for roughly a quarter of the adult population.

According to Dr. Riadh Fadhil, the director of the Qatar Organ Donation Center, last year saw 82 kidney transplants, 11 liver transplants, and 3 lung transplants carried out amid a significant increase in local donors.

The campaign will draw to a close day 30 of Ramadan, which is expected to fall on 9 April.