Navjeevan – MFJCF (MOHAN Foundation-Jaipur Citizen Forum) Team conducted the one week Transplant Coordinators’ Training Programme at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan from 21^st to 25^th January, 2019. The training was conducted under the aegis of NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation). This is the fourth such training programme conducted by Navjeevan-MFJCF in Jaipur which was ateended by 55 participants from Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Delhi.

The training was inaugurated on January 21^st, 2019, by Mr. Rajiv Arora, Chairman (MFJCF), Dr.Sudhir Bhandari, Principal, SMS Medical College & Hospital. Dr. DS Meena, Medical Superintendent, SMS Hospital, Dr. Ashok Gupta, Medical Superintendent, JK Lon Hospital were also present during the inauguration. The event was graced by Mr. Rakesh Jain who donated his son Mr. Manan Jain’s organs and tissues in 2017. MFJCF was applauded by Dr.Sudhir Bhandari for its exemplary work towards creating awareness in the rural parts of Rajasthan and conducting training programmes for doctors and other health care professionals.

Sessions on various topics such as Basic concepts of organ donation, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, deceased donation programme in the country, approaching a family for organ donation, importance of spreading awareness among the public, role and qualities of a transplant coordinator in deceased donation, history of transplantation, ethics of organ donation and transplantation, deceased donation programme in public hospitals were taken by the MOHAN Foundation faculty which included –Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director, Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director-Delhi NCR and Ms. Sujatha Suriyamoorthi, Manager-Information Systems. Group activities, role play and a quiz on organ donation and transplantation were conducted by the team. Educative videos and awareness films were also screened during the training.

Dr. Swati Tomar, Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan gave a lecture on Corneal donation and transplantation.  An interesting lecture on promoting social awareness initiatives in schools was taken by Mrs. Jayshree Periwal from Jayshree Periwal International School. Dr.Randhir Rao, in his talk on living related organ transplants explained the role of a transplant coordinator, the forms related to living transplantation, swap transplants and procedure to obtain approval from the authorization committee. 

Dr. Manish Sharma, JK Lon Hospital addressed the participants on Identifying and certifying brain stem deaths in the ICU which was followed by ‘Maintenance of a potential brain dead organ donor’ by Dr. VD Sinha, SMS Hospital. A session on ‘Liver diseases & transplantation’ was handled by Dr.Ankur Gupta, NIIMS.  Dr. Gupta highlighted the role of transplant coordinators during the pre, post and perioperative procedures in the liver transplant programme.

Dr. Vinay Malhotra, SMS Hospital addressed the participants on the “Basics of Kidney Disease & Dialysis”.  This was followed by a session on “Kidney Transplantation” by Dr. Sher Singh Yadav, SMS Hospital who explained the following – Donor evaluation, Contraindications for a transplant, Kidney retrieval and transplant surgical procedures and rejection.

Dr. Akshay Sharma, Rukmani Birla Hospital spoke on 'Basics of Heart failure & transplants'. He also addressed Homograft banking and transplantation.  There was an interesting session on ‘Life…pass it on – The ethos of Organ Donation’ by Mr. Ravi Kamra, Navjeevan-MFJCF Member. He talked on having and following the values and guiding principles in the transplant programme. Dr. R K Jain, SMS Hospital, in his session on 'Skin donation' explained the skin donation process, banking, need for skin donation. He also shared some success stories of burn victims whose lives have been saved through skin donation.

Mr. Ram Prasad Meena, SMS Hospital addressed the participants on “Role of a Transplant Coordinator in Retrieval Process” with case studies.  Dr. RK Poonia and Dr. Priyanka Sharma, SMS Hospital through an interactive session explained the legal formalities and documentation involved in deceased donation in Medico Legal Cases.  A session on ‘Body donation’ was addressed by Dr. Deepak Sharma, Rajasthan University of Health Sciences. Dr.Amla Batra, Navjeevan-MFJCF Member shared a few donor stories. Songs on organ donation written and composed by Dr.Batra were also performed.

Dr. Anita Hada Sangwan has been a Navjeevan-MFJCF Member ever since its inception and has been an active volunteer. Recently she became an organ donor by donating her kidney to her son. During a session she shared her experience on being a donor which was very moving.  

Dr.Vasanthi Ramesh, Director, NOTTO, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India talked about NOTP & National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).   

The training came to an end with the valedictory function held on 25^th January 2019. Mr. Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan was the Chief guest. Dr.Vasanthi Ramesh, Director NOTTO, Dr.Sudhir Bhandari, Principal, SMS Medical College & Hospital and Dr.Manish Sharma, Nodal Officer, Rajasthan Network for Organ Sharing (RNOS) were the special guests present at the valedictory function. There was a feeling of pride and jubilation, commitment and gratitude among the delegates as they received their course completion certificate from the dignitaries. Mrs. Bhavna Jagwani, Convenor, Navjeevan-MFJCF congratulated the participants on their successful completion of training.