On April 2, 2021, MOHAN Foundation was invited to conduct an online awareness session on organ donation as part of the webinar organised by PRAYAS, an enabling unit of Kirori Mal College, Delhi University (KMC, DU). The webinar was organised for the differently-abled students of the college, student volunteers, coordinators and faculty members of PRAYAS. The session was an initiative of Mr. Arunesh Chaudhary, Assistant Professor & Convener of PRAYAS, Kirori Mal College. Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation was invited as the keynote speaker.

Kirori Mal College was established in 1954. It is one of the finest colleges within the University of Delhi. PRAYAS, the enabling unit, is the PWD cell of Kirori Mal College. It facilitates academic pursuits of the differently-abled students through reading and writing services. It also sensitises the college fraternity about the needs of the differently-abled community and ensures their participation in extra-curricular activities, including sports and para-athletics.

At the beginning of the session, Mr. Arunesh Chaudhary welcomed all the participants and gave a brief introduction about the webinar. He said organ donation is an important topic as far as disability is concerned and this webinar serves as an opportunity for the participants to understand the concept of organ donation. He then introduced Dr. Sunil Shroff and invited him to begin the session.

Dr. Shroff explained the basic concepts of organ donation and transplantation with the help of a simple PowerPoint presentation. He explained the following topics in detail:

• Role of MOHAN Foundation and its team in various states
• First kidney transplant in the world by Joseph E. Murray and his colleagues at Brigham Hospital in Boston, USA
• Lord Ganesha, an example of xenotransplantation.
• First successful live kidney transplant in India performed at CMC Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
• Who can donate organs & tissues?
• Which organs can be donated in living and deceased donation?
• Hand transplantation in India
• Brain death & its potential for organ donation in India
• Road traffic accidents, a major cause of brain deaths in India
• Organ donation clause on driving license
• Time factor in organ donation & transplantation after brain death
• Challenges with organ transport & setting up green corridors for organ transport
• Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THO) and penalties 2011
• Challenges in implementing organ donation in India? -societal & hospital Issues
• Mistrust towards health care system
• Organ donor card launch by MOHAN Foundation in 1997
• Organ donation process in the hospitals
• Training programmes of MOHAN Foundation
• Role of transplant coordinators
• Oxford organ retrieval master class by MOHAN Foundation
• Organ donation rates worldwide
• Eye & whole-body donation
• Police training by MOHAN Foundation

At the end, Dr. Shroff expressed his view that collaborative efforts by NGO’s, government Hospitals, private sector hospitals, state health departments are need of the hour to achieve a successful model for deceased donation transplantation in India. He informed how a person can help the cause of organ donation by becoming a volunteer, member of MOHAN Foundation, ambassador of the cause, taking up internship with MOHAN Foundation and by taking up a career path and get trained as a transplant coordinator by MOHAN Foundation.

The participants enthusiastically contributed to the discussion and asked many queries which were answered by Dr. Shroff one by one. To name a few: 

• If I wish to donate my organs, how will it be implemented after my death?
• Will hospital do something for me as a donor if I would have some complications while donating my organs in case of living donation?

One suggestion also came from the audience that government should promote organ donation and encourage people to donate organs by offering health insurance to the people who voluntarily sign up for organ donation in hospitals and by online registries.

Mr. Ajeet Kumar, Assistant Professor, Kirori Mal College gave vote of thanks. He said that the session was very informative and helped the participants to understand the concept of organ donation and transplants. They understood the importance of organ donation. The short video on hand transplant inspired the participants to never give up in life and stay positive.

Close to 50 participants attended the session.