On August 10, 2024, Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director of MOHAN Foundation, NCR, was invited as an online speaker to address delegates on "Organ Donation: Current Challenges and the Way Forward" in a workshop titled "Train the Trainer." The workshop was jointly organized by the Rotary Club of Organ Donation, Rotary Action Group for Blood and Organ Donation, and Rotary.
The workshop covered various important topics, including myths and religious opinions on organ donation, laws governing organ transplantation in India, paediatric brain death, Rotary’s role in organ donation, brain stem death diagnosis and declaration, grief counselling, role-playing, and skin donation.
Ms. Pallavi led a session focusing on the challenges and future directions in organ donation. She began by sharing the story of a young man who was declared brain dead, whose family was counselled and consented to donate his organs. She then went on to address the following topics in detail:
• Disparity Between the Demand and Supply of Organs in India:
o Societal Hurdles: Lack of awareness, religious and cultural beliefs, and mistrust of the healthcare system.
o Hospital Preparedness: Attitudes toward brain death and organ donation, lack of trained personnel, and knowledge deficits.
o Government Shortfalls: Lack of brain death audits, inadequate public outreach, and the absence of an interlinked registry and donor visibility.
Organ donation is a complex and multi-faceted process, requiring a dynamic approach for success. Ms. Pallavi outlined several key steps to move organ donation forward:
• Societal Actions: Raising awareness, pledging donor cards, honouring organ donor families, and effective communication with family members.
• Hospital Readiness: Establishing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), training and capacity building, training on family conversations about organ donation, and encouraging donation after circulatory death.
• Government Initiatives: Mandating brain death audits linked to licensing, establishing Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORCs), facilitating legislation for donation after circulatory death, and promoting public-private partnerships to make transplants accessible and affordable.
Ms. Kumar also informed the delegates about MOHAN Foundation’s initiatives, including the launch of an organ donation program in Imphal, Manipur, where they successfully introduced renal transplants in government institutions, established eye bank, and facilitated corneal transplants. Additionally, she mentioned that MOHAN Foundation began its work at AIIMS Rishikesh this year, with the first deceased organ donation recently taking place.
Ms. Kumar concluded the session by emphasizing that organ donation should become a routine process, as deaths occur every day. Hospitals should be well-equipped to properly certify deaths and counsel families, giving them the option to decide whether or not they wish to donate their loved one’s organs.
Close to 40 participants attended the online workshop.
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