Tirupati: Organ donation is a gift of life to those in need

Tirupati: The chief transplant coordinator (CTC) of AP Jeevandan Dr K Rambabu said that the primary motive of an organ donation, 'The Gift of Life' is to save as many lives as possible by willingly donating the organs gifting another person a second chance at life. Giving the details of organ donation to The Hans India on the sidelines of an awareness meeting held at SV Medical College here on Wednesday, he said that the need for organs is growing at a considerable rate.

Availability of organs is not matching the demand as nearly five lakh people die in the country due to non-availability of organs and this number has been growing. He explained that one organ donor can save up to eight lives. There are 2,743 registered recipients for various organs till date out of which as many as 1,904 recipients have registered for kidneys.

One of the major means of organ donation is through the Jeevandan which started functioning from March 18, 2015 after the bifurcation of the state. Jeevandan software is being used for the registration of both donors and patients and the allocation of organs. The registrations are to be made at http://jeevandan.ap.gov.in.

The allocation is purely system based and no manual process is involved. Without CTC's allocation, the donor hospital should not allow the transplantation team for retrieval, Dr Rambabu clarified. To a question, he said that nearly 700 organs have been donated since 2015 in the state. All the government teaching hospitals have to establish Jeevandan helpdesk in hospital premises.

Meanwhile, at the awareness programme, he explained the process of organ donation, the modalities involved and other aspects to the medical staff, nursing and medical students. SV Medical College (SVMC) principal Dr PA Chandrasekharan, SVMC Jeevandan coordinator Dr Radha, Ruia hospital superintendent Dr Nagamuneendrudu and others attended the meeting.