Half a decade ago, the total number of organs donated for transplantation in unified Andhra Pradesh used to hover anywhere between 80 and 90 every year. The long wait for desperate patients needing donor organs was unending, as the flow of donor organs was few and far between.
A week-long sensitisation programme for over 850 staff of the Government Rajaji Hospital, conducted by the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) and Mohan Foundation, is reaping rich dividends.
On December 10, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underwent a kidney transplant surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS in Delhi with the kidney from an unrelated donor.
A panel of speakers at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) has emphasised the need to spread awareness on the 'Deceased Donor Programme Cadaver Daan', which is aimed at organ donation and transplantation.
India has more than a billion people but just one organ donor for every 2 million of its population. This is amongst the lowest organ donation rates in the world and one of the biggest reasons for this is the lack of awareness about the cause.
In the last 8 years, a total of 4,938 organs have been transplanted in Tamil Nadu, according to Transplant Authourity of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN). The southern state is the first Indian state to make certification of brain death mandatory, successfully create a green corridor to transport an organ, and make conversations about organ donation mainstream.
There is an acute shortage of vital organs as there was a huge gap between the requirement and the number of vital organs available, Dr N.T.R.University of Health Sciences Vice-Chancellor T. Ravi Raju said.
A Transplant Coordinators Training Programme will be conducted for the first time in Guntur from November 14 to 18 at Ramesh Hospitals. This programme is being organised by MOHAN Foundation under the aegis of the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, in collaboration with Jeevandan, A.P. Government and Ramesh Hospitals.
In the wake of recent kidney scams busted in Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Akola, doctors and hospitals have refused to take any fresh cases to conduct live donor transplants. Associations have even asked for clarity on donors transplant from the higher-ups. Amid this, it has been revealed that there soon will be a live donor registry maintained in the country to address the problem.
How can I sell my kidney? This question has been posed so often to Mohan Foundation, an NGO that works towards creating awareness about cadaveric donation of organs since 1997, that it has an official dedicated to tackle this "menace".
