A special function in which the generosity and benevolence of organ donor families was given due recognition was organized by MOHAN Foundation (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) in Chennai on Thursday, 9^th August 2012. His Excellency Dr. K. Rosaiah, the Governor of Tamil Nadu was the chief guest. The other dignitaries present were Dr. V. Kanagasabai, Dean, Madras Medical College & Rajiv Gandhi Govt. General Hospital and Dr. Ravindranath, Chairman & Managing Director, Global Hospitals Group. 26 families of deceased organ donors in Tamil Nadu were felicitated by His Excellency Dr. K. Rosaiah, the Governor of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan on the occasion.

MOHAN Foundation has been working in the field of deceased organ donation since 1997 and every year it observes Organ Donor week in the month of August. It was a solemn occasion as each of the organ donor families was felicitated by Dr. K. Rosaiah.   These families despite the loss of their loved ones have given a new lease of life to many through organ donation. The families, which hailed from diverse parts of the state like Namakkal, Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram and Chennai, were united through their support for this cause. The organ donations took place in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH), Apollo Hospitals and Global Hospitals.

Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation, in his welcome address said that organ donor families were a source of inspiration to society.  The courage that they displayed was exemplary and the fact that they had gone the extra mile to help others was something to be emulated.

Dr. K. Rosaiah said that August is the month when our country celebrates Independence Day. It is therefore only fitting that we remember the noble deceased organ donors of our country  this month because they have made it possible for hundreds of patients with organ failure to gain ‘independence’ through a life-saving transplant. He added that Tamil Nadu is a role model for the Deceased organ donation programme in the country. It has an organ donation rate of 1.3 per million population, which is 15 times the national average. In Govt. General Hospital alone, there have been 67 deceased organ and tissue donors from February 2010 to July 2012. This has translated to the retrieval of over 300 organs and tissues.

The Governor released the 35^th edition of the Indian Transplant Newsletter on the occasion. He also felicitated the members of medical community who have keenly supported the deceased organ donation programme. Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan, Convenor, Cadaver Transplant Programme, introduced the doctors who were felicitated by the Governor (Dr.N.Muthurajan, Deputy DME; Dr.K.Deiveegan, Dr.R.Venkatachalam, Dr.B.Santhakumar (Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital); Dr.M.Dhanraj, Dr.Anita Cherian(Apollo Hospitals);Dr.K.Sridhar, Dr.K.Ilankumaran(Global Hospitals).

Cognizant Foundation who has provided MOHAN Foundation with  e-learning classroom facilities to train the grief/transplant coordinators was also felicitated on the occasion. On behalf of Cognizant Foundation, Mr. Lakshminarayanan, Director, Cognizant Foundation & Vice-Chairman Cognizant, Mr. N.R. Krishnan, Director, Cognizant Foundation, Dr. S. Ramamurthy, Director, Cognizant Foundation, received a memento from the Governor. Mr. Madhavan, CEO, Cognizant Foundation was also present on the occasion.