The Department of Hospital Administration and Public Health, Amity Medical School, Amity University Haryana had organized a half day seminar on Organ Donation for the students of the university. Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director (Delhi-NCR), MOHAN Foundation and Dr.(Col.) Avnish Seth, MD, DM & Director Gastroenterology, Fortis Hospital, Gurgaon were invited as guest speakers at the sensitization session  held in their auditorium.
 

Amity University Haryana is a private University established by the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), New Delhi ,which is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act,1860. It was established with the view to promote professional, industry oriented education in the state of Haryana. Sprawled over 110 acre  of land on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, it imparts education in almost all areas including management, engineering, law, biotechnology, communication, ,fine arts etc.

The session started off at 11.00 am with a welcome address by Dr. R. C. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Haryana, wherein he spoke about the importance of Organ Donation and why people should think about it and advocate the same.

Following him, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr. Padmakali Banerjee stressed upon the need and importance of public awareness on Organ Donation.

Maj Gen Mahavir Singh, head of the Medical School also addressed the students. Dr Singh himself was involved in the organ donation programme at the Army Hospital and encouraged the students to think about this important cause.

The first guest speaker of the session was Dr. (Col.) Avnish Seth. He gave an overview on Organ Donation, cited some challenges, issues and the huge gap between the donor and recipients. He embarked upon THOA (Transplantation of Human Organs Act) 1994 and spoke of his personal experience as an organ donor. He also stressed time and again on the need and necessity of systems to be put in place for the proper functioning and smooth running of the Organ Donation Programme in general and that lack of public awareness was the primary reason for the lack of people pledging their organs and becoming organ donors. Dr Seth said that the focus should now shift from live donation towards Deceased Organ Donation ,which can only be made possible by public awareness, and  that the young people have a big role to play in this as they can influence thinking of many others.

The final speaker of the session was Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director, MOHAN Foundation (Delhi-NCR). Ms. Kumar started off her session by enquiring, how many of the participants present had signed up for eye donation? Hardly 2-3 people had signed up and only one person had signed up for organ donation. She then explained brain death followed by a video clip on the same, in order to ensure the audience had clear understanding upon the subject of Bain Death. She also spoke about the legalities and the technical aspects involved in Organ Donation and explained in detail the THOA,1994. Ms Kumar constantly stressed on the role and importance of public awareness on Organ Donation ,so that its possible for the Neurosurgeon to talk the patient about Brain Death and within the context of Organ Donation, which is essential for the success of Organ Donation. She also said that not everyone has the opportunity to be an Organ Donor, hence it should be looked upon as a privilege because of the simple fact that one is given the opportunity to save lives. The session was very interactive and innovative and received very well by all those present there.

The talk was attended by heads of departments and many senior faculty and close to 250 students. Post the sessions, a panel consisting of Dr Seth, Ms Kumar and Maj Gen Singh addressed the various queries of the students and faculty.

A public sign –up displaying the solidarity to the cause was also held post the Q&A session. The faculty and students took an oath by raising their hands and saying – “ Yes! I am an Organ Donor” to show their support to the cause.

A sign-up counter was set up just outside the auditorium and close to 400 Donor Cards were signed. About 70 students offered to volunteer for the work of the Foundation.