Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 31 (IANS) Some 1,000 people will participate in a rally here Saturday to create awareness about the need for organ donations.
The rally is being organised by the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The hospital Wednesday announced the rally at a function organised to mark the successful completion of 500 transplants by its Liver Transplant Team.

Talking about the proposed rally, Sanjiv Saigal, chief transplant hepatologist at the hospital, said that refusing to donate organs was a social problem that can be overcome through awareness.

“Refusal to donate organs is a social problem in India with people not coming forward due to lack of education and stigmas associated with the issue. We want to make people realise that donating organs is a very noble cause and they should not hesitate to volunteer,” Saigal told reporters.

According to the hospital, last year there were only 110 donors in the entire country as against a requirement of 25,000 donors for 100,000 transplants of various organs.

S. Nundy, from the hospital’s surgical gastroentrology department, said that families of people who are rendered brain dead in road accidents need to be aware that the victim’s organs can save lives.

“Of the 160,000 road accident deaths in India annually, a 100,000 are due to brain death and all of these victims are potential donors. The rally is to raise awareness about this. Even if a small percentage of these become donors, it will save thousands of lives,” Nundy said.

The rally is expected to be attended by 1,000 people including doctors, patients and their families. The 2-km walk will start at 8 a.m. in the eastern fringes of the city near Noida and culminate at the Akshardham Temple’s assembly hall.