“The solution to bridge the ever widening gap between organ availability and organ requirement in India is possible only through systematic strengthening of the deceased organ donation programme,” stated the Chief Guest, Dr Rajnish Pathania, Director of medical education and research, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh while addressing as the Chief Guest at an impressive CME on Deceased Organ Donation that concluded at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College Kangra, Tanda today.
The first ever CME on How to initiate Deceased Organ Donation that witnessed the participation of over 100 delegates physically as well as virtually from various hospitals across the state was organized by Department of General Surgery, Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in collaboration with Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) PGIMER Chandigarh under the aegis of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India
Dr Pathania complimented RPGMC, Tanda for ‘taking forward the national mandate’ and assured them of his full support in giving a boost to the deceased donation programme. He also lauded PGIMER for assuming the role of a mentor to give an impetus to the deceased donation program in RPGMC, Tanda.
As a humble tribute to their selfless sacrifice, the Chief Guest also felicitated three donor families from Himachal Pradesh whose generous gesture despite being confronted with their own tragic loss enabled impacting 13 lives through successful deceased organ transplantation.
The brave-heart families included those of donors Aditya Katoch from Kangra, Varsha Sharma from Hamirpur and Sushma from Una for consenting for Organ Donation amid their own tragedy that impacted 13 lives through Organ Transplantation at PGIMER Chandigarh.
The technical session had a prolific and highly qualified team from PGIMER, Chandigarh who shared their versatile knowledge and hands-on experiences in the domain of organ donation and transplantation.
Detailing about the legal requirements for the implementation of the deceased transplantation programme, Prof. Vipin Kumar Koushal, Addl. Medical Superintendent, PGIMER & Nodal Officer, ROTTO outlined a roadmap which emphasized the need for registration of hospitals as retrieval/transplantation centres, developing adequate infrastructure, training and sensitization of ICU/Emergency Staff, better reporting of brain death cases and the most importantly, public education about the cause.
While making a presentation on renal transplant surgery shared, Prof. Ashish Sharma, Head, and Deptt. of Renal Transplant Surgery, PGIMER said “Out of 443 cadaveric kidney transplants conducted so far since the inception in 1996, 26 were conducted amid the thick of COVID during the last 10-12 months. It’s a testimony to the success of the cadaveric transplant program and reiteration of faith by the public.”
Prof. Ashish Sharma further highlighted, “PGIMER’s Renal Transplant programme is one of the most prolific transplantation programmes of the country with 4256 renal transplants so far including 3809 live transplants. The department also has to its credit to establish a simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant programme in 2014 and has done 26 such transplants so far.
The participants were acquainted with the management of brain dead donors by Prof Kajal Jain, from Dept of Anaesthesia and Prof Manish Modi from Dept of Neurology made the delegates aware about the dilemmas in determination of brain death.
Dr Sushant Sahu from Dept of Neurosurgery detailed about the certification of brain dead donors whereas Transplant Coordinator Ms Rajinder Kaur, threw light on the process of donor Identification and seeking the consent of the donor family.
Wrapping up the CME aptly, Dr Rakesh Chauhan, Dept of Surgery, RPGMC Tanda said. “The CME was conceived with intent to build up focus on this altruistic cause of organ donation by engaging with medical fraternity from various streams to help boost the donation/retrieval/transplantation activity in RPGMC and thereby, help saving precious lives.”
The technical session was followed by showcasing of a motivational video on the success story of organ recipients in PGIMER which left many in the hall with moist eyes.
