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Pune sees 24 cadaver donations since January 2022
Focus now is to spread awareness regarding organ donation among youngsters in the age group of 18 to 35 years, say officials
On the occasion of ‘world organ donation day’ celebrated every year on August 13, it is interesting to note that as many as 24 cadaver donations have been carried out in Pune city since January this year. Whereas officials have highlighted the need to spread awareness about organ- and cadaver organ- donation among the younger generation.
Arti Gokhale, central coordinator, Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), said that this year, the Pune division has reported 24 cadaver donations since January. “So far this year, Pune has seen the maximum organ donations across Maharashtra. While dealing with organ donation, our zonal committee is now focusing on spreading awareness regarding organ donation among the younger generation,” said Gokhale.
Among patients who are brain dead, many a time, their sons or daughters or younger siblings take the decision as to whether or not to go ahead with organ donation. “We have noticed that in case of elder patients who are declared brain-dead, young ones like sons or daughters have the authority to decide regarding organ donation. Many a time, as there is no awareness among the younger generation, the process takes longer. Hence, we have decided to focus on the younger generation by using social media platforms to reach them,” said Gokhale.
She added that the focus now is to spread awareness regarding organ donation among youngsters in the age group of 18 to 35 years. “The ZTCC now will be more active in terms of social media campaigning. As part of reaching more people, we launched the QR code in 2021 to take pledges from youngsters. So far, there have been 3,000 people who have taken the online pledge to donate organs. And more than 8,000 people have seen it,” said Gokhale.
August 13 every year is observed as ‘world organ donation day’ to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and encourage people to do the same. Cadaveric donation is the donation of vital organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and pancreas from brain-dead patients and may include donation of tissues namely tissues of skin, corneas, tendons and bones from brain-dead and dead patients.
So far in Pune, the ZTCC has facilitated the transplant of 43 kidneys, 23 livers, one pair of kidney and pancreas, and two hearts. “We shared one pair of lungs with KIMS Hyderabad and received one liver from ZTCC Aurangabad this year,” said Gokhale. Across Maharashtra, Mumbai has carried out 22 organ transplants, Nagpur five, and Aurangabad one so far this year.
