On 12th August 2016, MOHAN Foundation was invited to conduct an awareness session on organ donation at Nagarro Pvt. India Ltd.  This talk was conducted as part of Times of India Initiatives to conduct organ donation awareness sessions in corporates and schools.

 

The talk was coordinated by Mr. Konark Pandey of Times of India and Ms. Vicky from Nagarro and conducted by Ms Mareena Thomas of MOHAN Foundation.

 

With the recent news of an organ trafficking racket busted in hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi, the audience began by bringing that up. A lot of questions were asked pertaining to the law and allocation of organs. Mareena explained how health is a state subject and every state has their own ways of implementing the rules governing organ donation. When specifically asked about the allocation system in Delhi it was explained that for in Delhi every hospital has their own list of patients waiting for organ transplantation and these names are fed into the central registry created by NOTTO ( National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation). If and when there is brain death in that particular hospital and the family consents, organs are allocated by NOTTO according to a distribution criterion developed by them.

 

Mareena stressed that while there were flaws in the system, efforts have to be made by the government, NGOs and the public to stop the corrupt practices. She explained how all of this stems from the demand and gap supply of organs in our country and how if more people came forward to donate, these practices would stop. She said that organ failure and a need for transplant can be a crisis that anyone can face. Under such circumstances one should try to keep an altruistic side to such an issue and be open to a cause that is life saving for anyone.

 

5 people attended the session and 2 donor cards were picked up.