*ROTTO North PGIMER Shines at 14th Indian Organ Donation Day*
*Wins National Award for Best ROTTO, Presented by Smt. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare*
Continuing its tradition of excellence, ROTTO North PGIMER has once again garnered national recognition by receiving the prestigious National Award for Best ROTTO. This accolade, awarded for its outstanding contribution to promoting cadaver organ donation, was presented at a high-profile event organized by NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) to celebrate the 14th Indian Organ Donation Day at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi today.
Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare & Chemicals and Fertilizers , Smt. Anupriya Patel, graced the event as the Chief Guest. Dr. Vinod K. Paul, Member (Health) NITI AAYOG, attended as the Guest of Honour. Other senior functionaries from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, including Sh. Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Atul Goyal, Director General of Health Services, and Dr. Anil Kumar, Director NOTTO, were also in attendance.
Expressing his elation over this achievement, Prof. Vivek Lal, Director PGIMER, remarked, “It is a profound honour to be acknowledged on a national level for our commitment to promoting deceased organ donation. ROTTO North has played a pivotal role in fostering an environment conducive to organ donation through relentless awareness campaigns, significantly boosting our deceased donation programme.”
Sh. Pankaj Rai, Deputy Director Administration of PGIMER, Dr. Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent and Nodal Officer of ROTTO North PGIMER, Saryu D. Madra, Consultant (IEC/Media), Milan K Bagla, Consultant ( Data Management), along with the entire ROTTO team, received the prestigious award.
Reflecting on the recognition, Sh. Pankaj Rai, DDA PGIMER stated, “We are deeply honoured and further motivated to advance our mission with even greater fervor.”
The event’s most poignant moment was the felicitation of Mr. Sanjay Kumar and Mrs. Rajo Devi, parents of donor Harsh Panwar, and Mr. Manoj and Mrs. Raj Rani, parents of donor Sahil. Their courageous decision to donate the organs of their loved ones received a standing ovation from the audience, impacting eight lives through the transplantation of heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and corneas. Additionally, Sh. Sukhdev Kumar, the longest-surviving kidney recipient from PGIMER, was honoured on this occasion.
Acknowledging the collective effort behind this honour, Prof. Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent cum Nodal Officer, ROTTO PGIMER, shared, “This award is dedicated to all the brave-hearted donor families whose magnanimous gesture of donating their loved one’s organs has been instrumental in the success of our program.”
Furthermore, various states under ROTTO North received accolades for their contributions. SOTTO Jammu & Kashmir was named the Best Emerging State in Organ Donation. Dr. RPGMC Tanda and Command Hospital Panchkula were awarded as Emerging NTORCs, and Rajasthan was recognized for the Best Awareness/IEC Activities.
This marks the second time that the national award for Best ROTTO has been bestowed upon ROTTO PGIMER Chandigarh for its contributions to the deceased organ donation programme. PGIMER has previously secured four national awards in the Best Hospital category for deceased donation for the years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2019-20. The newly instituted award for being the 2022-2023 UT with the highest number of Deceased Donors has also been won for the first time.
