“One can begin so many things with new hopes in one’s mind” referring to this quote Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), IMA – Pondicherry and Pondicherry Renal Sciences Society joined hands with MOHAN Foundation to give momentum to the Deceased Donation programme in Puducherry. In order to do so, a Symposium on Deceased Organ donation - Moving Forward was organized on 15th June 2013 at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences.
Nearly 150 staff from Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIMPER), Government General Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Hospital and Medical College participated in the Symposium.
There were four sessions as follows-
Session I:
Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan, Convenor, Cadaver Transplant Programme, Tamil Nadu explained the genesis of the program and urged the hospitals to come together and form an informal group to begin.
Dr. George Kurian, Senior Consultant, Gastro-enterology Dept. of PIMS spoke on the challenges in starting and running cadaver program and the current situation and hospital structure in Pondicherry.
Dr. Biju Potekkal, Senior Consultant, Gastro-enterology Dept. of JIPMER enlightened the audience on the concept of organ allocation. He said that the objective of organ distribution is “No wastage of Organs and Maximum usage of transplantable organs”.
Session II:
A short film on Brain Death Certification from MOHAN Foundation was screened. The film explained the concept of brain death and how to do clinical testing and apnea test for certification of Brain Death.
Dr. Mathew Joseph, Senior Neuro Surgeon from Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore explained the steps in Practical Management of Brain Death Patients. He highlighted the importance of medical management of a potential organ donor and standard protocols developed at CMC.
Release of Resource Manual on Deceased Organ Donation
A resource manual - Deceased Organ Donation compiled by MOHAN Foundation was released by Prof. Ashok Kumar Das, Medical Superintendent, JIPMER. The first copies were received by Dr. Udit K. Das and Dr. George Kurian.
Session III: – Panel Discussions
There were 3 panel discussions on:
a) How to promote DD in Pondicherry – Dr. George Kurian Moderated the discussions
Panel Members – Dr. Mathew Joseph, Dr. G. Sreenivaasan (IMA) spoke on steps to promote Deceased Organ Donation in Puducherry
b) Administrative, Finance & Allocation Issues on deceased donation – Dr. Amalorpavanathan lead the discussion on these issues
Dr. Biju Potekkal, Prof Ashok Kumar D, Medical Superintendent, JIPMER were other panelist discussing the way forward.
c) Amendments to the THO Act, Importance of Transplant Coordinators, Consent Process and Organ Retrieval – Dr. Shroff started the discussion.
Dr. Vijay Oza lead the discussion informing the audience about the new THO act. Dr. Sreejith, Dr. Janardan, Dr. S. Vasudevan and Dr. Murgesan were the other panelists
Session IV: Action Plan
Dr. Sunil Shroff facilitated the discussion on action plan for the next six months. The participating hospitals agreed to start an informal committee amongst themselves. The next meeting was fixed on 10th July 2013 in the office of Dr. A. K. Das, Medical Superintendant of JIPMER. The office bearers of this committee are - Convenor: Prof. Ashok Kumar Das, JIPMER, Co-Convener - Dr. Udit Das, Member Secretary : Dr. Biju Potekkal, JIPMER.
The members of the committee were all the senior doctors from different hospitals who attended the symposium and included - Dr. George Kurian, Dr. Vijay Oza, Dr. Sreejith, Dr. Janardan, Dr. Murgesan, Dr. G. Sreenivaasan, Mr. Vishwanathan.
The tentative points of discussion for the first meeting are training of hospital nurses and physicians on brain death certification and maintenance and budget norms.
The symposium ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. George Kurian.
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