Gurugram: In an attempt to create awareness among the people about organ donation, a day-long seminar was organised at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on Monday.
Representatives from several NGOs, government and private hospitals, officials from health department and National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and experts among other stakeholders participated in the seminar.
While addressing the gathering, former consultant from NOTTO, Suresh Badhan explained about the Transplant of Human Organ Act - 1994.
He said that a person whose brain becomes dead due to brain injury, brain hemorrhage or any other reason, organs of his body still remain alive and can be donated to a needy person for saving their lives. “We can save lives of at least 6 people by transplanting organs from the body of a 'brain dead' person. Organs like kidney, liver, heart, eyes, body tissues, blood cells can be donated,” he said.
To create awareness about organ donation, a team of coordinators has been formed in hospitals. Members from this team would make people aware about it and would do counselling of the family members of that person for donating his organs.
Talking about the living donor, he said that a living person can also donate his body parts such as kidney, bone marrow, liver and some part of the lungs to any needy patient from his family.
He said, “India is second in the world in terms of organ transplant but there is a scope for improvement in this regard. More needs to be done to educate the masses about organ donation. According to a study, last year only 900 families donated organs of their deceased members.”
Every year, 2 lakh people need kidney for transplant, out of which, only 12 thousand people get it in time. Similarly, more than 50 thousand people need a liver, out of which only 4 thousand people get it in time. “Many people die due to non availability of organs for transplant, so it is very important to bring awareness among people about organ donation,” he informed.
On this occasion, Dr. Avnish Seth from Fortis Hospital said that a large number of people die due to organ failure. “In many cases of organ failure, organ transplant is the only option instead of medication. Organ transplants can save large number of lives. Hence, if we change our mindset, the life of many people can be saved with organ donation.”
In the seminar, people also cleared their doubts from the experts about organ donation.
Dr Reshma Tiwari from Artemis Hospital said that the brain dead person can be identified in various ways like by conducting Dolce eye test, cold water test, cornea test and many other tests. Through these tests, it can be ascertained that the patient's brain is completely dead. “Hospitals have an important role in creating awareness about organ donation,” she added.
