On January 25, 2024, the MOHAN Foundation Delhi NCR office conducted an organ donation awareness session for DTC bus drivers in the DTC Training School. Ms. Simran Anand, Programme Officer, MF Delhi NCR, was the speaker for the session.

Ms. Simran began the session by asking participants if they have a driving licence and if they are aware that there is an option for being an organ donor. She then explained the current status of organ donation in India. She also explained the basic concepts of organ donation and transplantation with the help of a PowerPoint presentation. The following topics were explained in detail:

• What is organ donation and its need in society?

• Who can be an organ donor?

• Explanation about live and deceased donors

• Organs that can be donated during life and after death

• Brain death

• Eye donation and steps required to preserve the corneas after death.

• Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994

• Role of MOHAN Foundation

• What an individual can do to contribute to this noble cause

• Myths and facts about organ donation

• Differences between coma and brain death

Ms. Simran also sensitised the participants about eye donation:

• Eye donation is a small procedure lasting 10 to 15 minutes.

• Eye sockets are not fully retrieved; instead, only corneas are retrieved.

• After the death of the person within 6 hours, eye banks have to be contacted for the retrieval process.

• Eyelids have to be kept closed after the death of the person.

A short informative film on brain death was shown, and the importance of family consent in the process of organ donation was also explained in detail. Participants also shared their views about the cause.

Over all, the session was very interactive, where participants enthusiastically contributed to the discussion and asked many queries, to name a few:

• If an individual has an eye-sight problem, will he or she be allowed to donate eyes?

• What organs or tissues can be donated if the person has died at home?

Close to 60 participants attended the session.