In an attempt to raise organ donation awareness within the city, MOHAN Foundation organized ‘Organ-o-Cultural 2010’, a cultural competition for college students and a ceremony to commemorate people who had donated their organs after death.
The event, which was held on Monday 9th August 2010 at Madras Medical College, marked the inauguration of Organ Donor Week (8th-14th August 2010). “It is important for the youth to be sensitized towards such issues so that they may further their cause as they progress in society. Such events help them realize the importance of this cause without giving them the impression that someone is imposing the thought on them. If they make the choice to promote organ donation awareness themselves, they will definitely be able to achieve much better results,” said Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee of MOHAN Foundation.
Thiru.V.K.Subburaj I.A.S., Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, was the Chief Guest at the function. He honoured the nurses, lab technicians, helpers and police personnel who have helped with the organ donation process at Government General Hospital. He said that in 2008 the government had put into place procedures (G.Os) to be followed for the deceased donation programme and medical teams were also in readiness to perform transplants. A significant link had been the appointment of Transplant coordinators from MOHAN Foundation at GH who counsel families and facilitate organ donation and retrieval.
It was Prof. J. Mohanasundaram, Dean Madras Medical College who took the initiative to sign an MOU with MOHAN Foundation to place transplant coordinators in the Government General Hospital. And since February 2010, with the able support of the staff, our transplant coordinators, Ms. Veena, Ms. Sujatha & Mr. Christopher, have successfully facilitated organ donations from 15 deceased organ donors in GH in the past six months. This has helped the public to gain trust in the deceased organ donation programme since the poor and needy are helped to get a transplant free of cost.
Thiru. Subburaj said that the programme should move from being Chennai-centric to a more broad-based one involving the whole of Tamil Nadu. He said that MOUs to place MOHAN Foundation’s grief counsellors in government hospitals in Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Tirunelveli etc. would help take the deceased organ donation programme forward in the state.
Convenor of the Cadaver Transplant Programme in Tamil Nadu, Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan said that there was a quiet revolution going on in Tamil Nadu on the health front, especially with regard to deceased organ donation which is 12 times the national average. He added that Tamil Nadu is now a role model for the rest of India.
Prof. J. Mohanasundaram, Dean Madras Medical College, and Dr. Palani, Deputy Medical Superintendent were the Guests of Honour at the event.
The function was made complete by the presence of Mr. Shaktivel, who donated his wife, Mrs. Shankari’s organs in September 2001. The audience was moved to spontaneous applause by the courage that he had shown in donating her organs at a time when not many people were familiar with the concept of deceased organ donation.
Actor Sivakumar graced the valedictory function in the evening and signed a donor card pledging his organs for donation. In a lighter vein, he added that the organs that he planned to donate were ‘special’ - his eyes had gazed upon the wonders of Ajantha-Ellora and the Madurai Meenakshi temple and his heart had “loved” many times over, talking about his co-stars in a number of his movies, Radhika and Lakshmi!. The RMO Dr Muthuraj, who has been extremely supportive of the organ donation program in GH, also spoke on the occasion. He mentioned the remarkable work and commitment shown by all the Transplant Coordinators from MOHAN Foundation - Ms. Veena, Ms. Sujatha and Mr. Christopher.
Organ-o-Cultural 2010 received an enthusiastic response from colleges within the city, who sent forth their contingents from the Social Work Departments to participate in events such as Poster Design, Mime, Collage and Street Theatre all based on the theme of Organ Donation. The students showed great insight and sensitivity in portraying the concept of organ donation. They will definitely take the message of organ donation forward.
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