Bringing organ transplant care within reach

Access to organ transplants remains one of the most pressing challenges in Philippine healthcare. Thousands of patients, especially children, languish on long waitlists while their conditions deteriorate, often forced to travel abroad at great personal and financial cost just to find a suitable organ. The country’s low organ donation rate, among the lowest in the world, means that many lives that could be saved are ultimately lost due to the sheer unavailability of grafts rather than a lack of medical skill or technology.

In response to this crisis, the City Government of Pasig, Rizal Medical Center (RizalMed), and The Medical City (TMC) have partnered and launched the Pasig Alliance for Organ Donation and Sharing (PAODS) that formalizes a coordinated public–private framework to identify, manage, and effectively utilize deceased organ donors within Pasig City, directly targeting the shortage that has long burdened transplant patients and their families.

Under the agreement, the three institutions will work together across public awareness, clinical coordination, and capacity building. The program will boost community and professional understanding of organ donation, establish clear, fast referral pathways for potential multiorgan donors, and strengthen training for medical teams responsible for donor identification and management.

Each institution will maintain its internal organ donation program while coordinating through designated focal persons and shared systems, ensuring that no viable donor opportunity is missed due to poor communication or fragmented protocols.

Dr. Stuart Bennett, president and Group CEO of TMC, emphasized that the city level effort is not about competition but about setting an example for other cities to adopt similar collaborative models.

“It’s not about competition, it’s about collaboration,” Bennett said.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto described the partnership as “very meaningful, if not historic,” pointing to the heartbreak of families who have had to seek transplants as far as India.

“We have a lot more to do,” he said, “but more than anything, we look forward to the lives that we will save, especially the children, through this collaboration.”

The program also builds on the success of the existing TMC–RizalMed Joint Liver Transplant Program, which has already carried out three successful liver transplants with zero percent mortality.

Dr. Maria Rica Lumague, medical center chief II of RizalMed, stressed that organ donation is a shared responsibility, requiring unity, precision, and compassion. “Let this partnership be our promise that in Pasig City, no opportunity to save a life will be lost,” she said.

To guide implementation, a Pasig City Organ Donation Coordination Committee will be established to oversee operations, coordinate between institutions, and develop training and monitoring mechanisms. Health Secretary Ted Herbosa urged private hospitals to follow this model, calling on chief executives to see public–private collaboration as a national imperative and a modern expression of bayanihan.

All PAODS activities will comply with the Organ Donation Act of 1991 and international ethical standards, with informed consent, patient dignity, and data privacy at the center of every process. By transforming how organs are identified and shared, PAODS not only responds to the current shortage of transplant organs but also lays the foundation for a future where more Filipino patients can receive lifesaving transplants closer to home.