On February 28, Ms. Deepti Kumari, Transplant Coordinator, SOTTO, Haryana, along with Ms. Renu Kumari, Project Leader, MOHAN Foundation, organised an awareness session at ECHS Polyclinic, Tilak Nagar, Rohtak. Following information was provided by Ms. Renu Kumari during the awareness session:

• What is organ donation, and who can donate organs?

• What is living donation, and which organs can be donated?

• What is deceased donor donation, and which organs and tissues can be donated?

• difference between coma and brain death.

• Time factors in organ retrieval and transplant.

• Eye donation.

• Whom should I contact for organ donation?

• The role of NOTTO, ROTTO, SOTTO, and MOHAN Foundation in organ donation

• Myths and facts related to organ donation

• the significance of the donor card

• How to Get a Donor Card and Pledge for Organ Donation

It was an interactive session where Officer-in-Charge Col. Jitender Balhara, Medical officers, and supporting staff were keen to understand the importance of discussing organ donation. FAQs on organ donation and informational pamphlets were distributed. Many interesting questions, as below, were put forth:

• Will there be a tracking ID available for the treating hospital to know if a person who had pledged to organ donation is involved in an accident and is admitted to the ICU with brain death?

• Why India shouldn’t have an opt-out system

They also requested for another session to be conducted at their polyclinic, where they promised to pull in all the OPD patients on a busy day and make it big.

At the end of the session, Officer-in-Charge Col. Jitender Balhara messaged that convincing the next of kin or the family members of the wish to donate organs after death is more important than taking a pledge for organ donation. The SOTTO team thanked the participants for attending the session.

Close to 25 participants attended the session.