On 7th July 2018, MOHAN Foundation was invited by Witty International School, Pawan Baug at Malad, Mumbai to conduct an awareness workshop on organ donation, for its students, as part of its social community project.
Through the session the students were made aware that more than half a million Indians are estimated to be in dire need of an organ transplant - kidney, liver, heart and so on. Yet, less than a thousand transplants are performed each year. The rest usually die waiting for an organ as there aren't enough donors.
They were further informed that one person’s decision to donate his organs after his death could save up to 8 lives. But the lack of awareness, various myths, and an absence of a national registry had led to the dismal number of people signing up for Organ Donation. Despite India being the world's second most populous country, it has a deceased donation rate of just 0.8 per million populations.
“Instead of simply pledging to become an organ donor, we want to make sure that the youth understands why this is a very important issue. We want them to know why they need to be aware and how they can help. Our seminar aims at awareness and we hope to reach out to as many people as possible,” said Ms Jaya Jairam.
The children were quite exuberant and Ms Jaya answered all the queries asked by the students that led to the session being more interesting and participative. The children were surprised to hear another type of death i.e brain death. They found it quite interesting to know that only a brain dead person is eligible to donate organs while a person dying natural death can only donate tissues such as cornea, skin, bones, etc.
The Principal Mr Bijo Kurian addressed, “The youth of this country are socially conscious and aware, and more often than not, they are positive about organ donation as they read about such cases in the newspaper or on social media. Often, it’s a matter of just introducing them to the idea of organ donation and telling them about the benefits. As a school, we are responsible for reinforcing this noble cause among the youngsters.”
MOHAN Foundation thanks the management of Witty International School for their support of the cause of organ donation.
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