15th Annual International Conference of NATCO, October 15-16, 2022, Nagpur

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  Release of the proceedings of the 14th NATCO conference: (L - R) Mrs Arati Gokhale, President, NATCO, Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation, Dr Vivek Kute, Secretary ISOT

  

  Section of audience at the conference

  

  Swamy Narayan Best Transplant Coordinator Award presentations chaired by Dr Archana Kumari, Consultant Coordination, NOTTO & Dr Arpita Roychowdhury, Chairperson, ROTTO Kolkata

  

  (L to R) Ms Vrinda Pusalkar, Jehangir Hospital (Pune), Mrs Arati Gokhale, President, NATCO, Dr. R Krishnamoorthy, Plastic Surgeon, SIMS Hospital (Chennai) and Dr. Sanjeev Nair, Saveetha Medical College (Chennai) - Moderators of Free Paper Presentation

  

  Padma Shree awardee, Dr Rani Bang, Managing Director, SEARCH, Gadchiroli, delivering the Swami Narayan Memorial Oration

  

  Mr. Sanjay Prakash, MD and CEO, SBI Foundation addressing the audience at the valedictory function

  

  Dr Amalorpavanathan Best Scientific Paper award presented to Ms. KKD Surekha, Vijayawada

  

  Ms. Srividya Subramanian, Hyderabad receiving best poster award

  A two day conference was organised by the Network and Alliance of Transplant Coordinators (NATCO) on October 15 -16, 2022 at Le Meridien Hotel, Nagpur. NATCO is a National Body of Transplant Coordinators that is committed to professional development of Transplant Coordinators and advancement of organ and tissue donation in India. The theme of the Conference was "Power of You" indicating that the transplant coordinators have the strength to overcome the two years of pandemic and get back to helping organ failure patients. The conference was held under the aegis of Indian Society of Organ Transplantation (ISOT) which was inaugurated by Hon. Union Minister of Roadways and Transportation Shri Nitin Gadkari.

  Close to 143 participants that included both transplant coordinators and faculty attended the conference. Dr. Sunil Shroff, President, ISOT and Dr. Vivek Kute, Secretary, ISOT inaugurated the conference and released of the proceedings of the 14th NATCO conference. 

   

  A wide range of topics were covered at the conference. To name a few:

  • Donation after cardiac death
  • Advocacy for living donors 
  • Safeguarding the transplant coordinators in living donation
  • Reducing the time for organ transport 
  • Role of palliation in transplants

   

  Many transplant coordinators presented papers on the work done by them.

   

  Padmashree awardee, Dr Rani Bang, Managing Director  SEARCH, Gadchiroli, delivered the Swami Narayan Memorial Oration. She spoke of her journey in improving the health of tribals of central India by using evidence medicine and policy changes. She spoke of the importance of integration of local belief systems and practices in her work. Her oration inspired the transplant coordinators. 

   

  Many national and international speakers of repute spoke at the conference. Some of the international speakers were Dr. Gabriel Oniscu, President European Society of Transplantation, Dr. Chandra Bhati, Professor of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Mr. Tony van de Bospoort of Hospital Art Studio, UK. 

   

  Mr. Sanjay Prakash,  MD and CEO of SBI Foundation graced the occasion at the valedictory function and gave away the ‘Swamy Narayan Best Transplant Coordinator Award’. The winners of the award were Ms. Hemalata Parmar of Indore and Ms. Neha Sharma of Chandigarh. The ‘Dr Amalorpavanathan Best Scientific Paper’ was awarded to Ms. KKD Surekha of Vijaywada and the best poster was given to Ms. Srividya Subramanium of Hyderabad.

   

  The conference was supported by SBI Foundation, ZTCC Pune, MOHAN Foundation, C Edge, ISOT and ZTCC  Nagpur. 

  
  
  Source-Dr. Hemal Kanvinde