Forty organ-failure patients in the Eastern Province have some good news: Organs of several clinically dead patients will be donated following its approval by their relatives, media reports quoting senior officials at an organ donor agency have said.

Such initiatives are a result of increasing awareness among community members about the importance of organ donation, said Dr. Hanan Al-Ghamdi, deputy chairman of the Saudi Charitable Society for Organ Donation (Ithar).

Abdulaziz Al-Turki, chairman of the Sugar and Endocrinology Society, Saudi Cancer Society and Ithar, highlighted the role of volunteers at a ceremony that honored 400 of them who have actively joined Ithar’s awareness campaigns.

Fatma Milhim, head of the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign in the Eastern Province, said some 9,000 women underwent medical checkups during recent campaigns.

The Eastern Province is on top in cancer cases, with 40 cases for every 100,000 people based on data released by the National Register for Tumors, followed by Riyadh and Makkah, she said.

“In its fifth year, the campaign has realized an enormous turnout of 500 percent compared with previous years.”

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