Every year, around 75,000 patients are declared brain dead in the city. Despite such a large number of these patients, only 0.3 per cent organs are donated. In the last two years, only eight brain dead patients donated organs. Presently, 200 patients are waiting for kidney donors in the city.
To promote the cause of organ donation in India, The I Support O Campaign was recently conducted in Chennai. Reportedly, it received more than 10000 signatures from Chennaites and more than 1000 people signed off for their organ donation.
"Hai . ravi from kakinada . age 30. o positive.... 8 lacks money ergent... plss cont. 99xxxxxx9" says one post on the website. "Guys could you please help me to get geniune buyer... o+ve blood group... if anybody interested contact me on this no +9192xxxxxxx3... i am in serious debt trouble..." That's Nagarjuna, from Hyderabad.
The idea of kidnapping an unknown person, administering carbon monoxide and harvesting their organs may make a thrilling plot for a movie, but transplantation experts say storylines like this prove to be a setback to the efforts to promote cadaver organ transplantation.
Advocates of organ donation from across the country gathered at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Andheri on Friday to deliberate on how the fragmented national programme can be unified and strengthened to save more lives. As hospital and NGO heads, doctors, government officials debated the practical roadblocks, a consensus emerged that the country has to have a well-defined target that it must to strive to achieve.
After using an SU-30 frontline fighter aircraft to transport vital organs from a donor in Pune to a recipient in New Delhi recently, the armed forces are developing another green corridor for rapid transport of organs from Chandigarh to Delhi.
In A first-of-its-kind development in the Tricity, a road corridor has been established between the Command Hospital, Western Command, Chandimandir, and the Chandigarh airport in order to transport the organs meant to be transplanted in another city. Also on the anvil is an air corridor which is to be established between Chandigarh and New Delhi for faster transportation of organs meant for donation.
Organ donation has risen by more than three times over the past six months in Delhi, giving new hope to patients with organ failures. The trend can be attributed to better coordination between authorities.
Command hospital of army's western command has developed a green road corridor between the Hospital and Chandigarh airport to transport the organs quickly.
Close to 10,000 people have pledged their support towards organ donation and signed and collected cards that state their willingness to be organ donors.
