In 1994, the Indian parliament passed the Transplantation of Human Organ Act that accepted brain death for organ donation and made organ commerce a punishable offense. For the first time in India it was possible for the deceased to donate their organs and tissues provided the family consented to organ donation. India follows informed consent, unlike Spain and some of the other European countries that follow presumed consent. There are 23 organs in the human body and one can donate kidney, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and the small bowel as well as tissues like cornea, skin, bone, tendons, cartilage and heart valves. However, due to the lack of awareness level among the public and medical professionals, this concept of organ donation in India needed a shift in attitudes. The foundation organises awareness talks among public through meetings, holds rallies, organises programmes in colleges and offices with organ donation as a theme, sensitises police and hospital staff on issues related to donation and from time to time honours organ donor families. Donor cards and brochures related to organ donation and brain death are distributed at such events. MOHAN Foundation organised an "Organ Donation Rally" at Marina Beach, Chennai. A first-of-its-kind sand sculpture on organ donation was also created on the sands of the Marina beach. Rajasthan did its first deceased donor due to efforts of the Foundation in set up the Rajasthan Network for Organ Sharing Registry. Similar registries were set up for Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Donor cards express one’s desire to donate organs after death and have been used by MOHAN Foundation to create awareness and get organ pledges. Over a million such cards in English and regional Indian languages have been distributed by the foundation in over a decade. In a major organ donation drive inMarch 2012 called DAAN, it partnered with HCL Technologies along with Apollo Group of Hospitals, Chennai Police, Indian Medical Association, Cadaver Transplant Programme and received 12,900+ pledges from policemen, doctors and corporate employees. This was the largest organ donation campaigns in the country at that time. However this record was superseded by the Times of India in July - August 2013. TOI partnered with four NGO’s in the field of organ donation - Shatayu, Gift Your organ, Gift a Life and MOHAN Foundation to create awareness and received 50,000 plus pledges for organs.
Training transplant coordinators
A transplant coordinator is a medical professional - a doctor, an allied healthcare professional or a medical social worker - who coordinates activities related to organ donation. One of their core functions is to counsel the families of a brain dead individual for organ donation. These coordinators can act as link between hospitals, citizens, donors and patients requiring organ donation. The foundation provides training for coordinators including courses of one week, one month, 6 months and one year in length. These training programmes have partly been funded by one of the oldest philanthropic institutions in India, Sir Ratan Tata Trust & Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust. Coordinators are trained in medical, legal and ethical aspects related to organ donation and are also imparted soft skills for grief counseling. The structured training ensures that they are able to approach and counsel the families of brain dead patients for organ donation. Coordinators facilitate organ donation and transplantation in a positive environment and provide support to the donor family. From 2009 to 2012, 334 transplant coordinators were trained, helping to improve the organ donation rate in India. The foundation partners with The Transplantation Society, Indian Society of Nephrology, the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, World Health Organization, Transplant Procurement Management of Spain to conduct national workshops for transplant coordinators. Training programme of one week are held along with other similar NGO’s like Shatayu and Government organisations like Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee of Maharashtra and Karnataka to train the Transplant coordinators in different cities besides Chennai like Ahmadabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore.
Online organ registry
Registries for organ allocation ensure fair, equitable and transparent distribution of organs and ensure thatharvested organs are not wasted for want of recipients. They help to make sure that no one jumps the waiting list queue. In 2005 the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation initiated an Indian Transplant Registry where expertise was provided by technical staff of MOHAN Foundation. In 2009 the Cadaver Transplant Programme of the Government of Tamil Nadu used the previous experience of the foundation in creation of a registry for deceased donors and transplantation. Similar registries was created for the Department of Health, Government of Kerala in 2012 and the Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan in 2014. The Government of India also has a plan for national organ registry.
Overcoming organ shortage
The shortage of organs has been an international phenomenon and India has been no exception. This has led to organ trade and has often stigmatized the noble concept of organ donation. However the promotion of the deceased donation programme especially in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh has meant more organs and has had some impact on lessening the organ commerce.
