Public Awareness Campaign on Organ Donation & Transplantation at PGIMER’s Golden Anniversary Summit on Kidney & Pancras Transplantation gets huge traction
Smt. Kirron Kher, MP Chandigarh felicitates brave heart donor families
Commends their ‘spirit of generosity and resilience’ for being the ‘Saviour’ to many amid their own tragedy.
Recipients of Heart, Liver, Kidneys & Simultaneous Kidneys & Pancreas demonstrate the success of transplant as life option
Credited with a prolific renal transplant programme , PGIMER conducted its first kidney transplant on 21st June 1973 and till date, PGIMER has accomplished 4882 renal transplants including both live and deceased, thereby, saving precious lives.
PGIMER’s Department of Renal Transplant Surgery organised an impressive and engaging Public Awareness Campaign on Organ Donation & Transplantation to kick-start Golden Anniversary Summit on Kidney & Pancras Transplantation at NINE Auditorium here at PGIMER today.
The event that witnessed the participation of over 500 delegates from across the country, was graced by Smt. Kirron Kher, Member Parliament Chandigarh as the Chief Guest and Prof. Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER as the Guest of Honour .
Other dignitaries present on the dais included Dr. Krishan Kumar , Head, National Organ & Tissue Transplant Programme (NOTP), MoHFW, Prof. Vipin Koushal , Medical Superintendent & Head, Deptt. of Hospital Administration, Prof. Ashish Sharma , Head, Deptt. of Renal Transplant Surgery, Prof. Sanjay Bhadada , Head, Deptt. of Endocrinology, Prof. H.S.Kohli, Head , Deptt. of Nephrology and Prof . Deepesh Kenwar from Deptt. of Renal Transplant Surgery, PGIMER.
Addressing the auditorium full to its capacity, the Chief Guest on the occasion, Smt. Kirron Kher, Member Parliament Chandigarh, stated, “The Government of India has launched Ayushman Bharat scheme which covers dialysis for the beneficiaries and has now even included kidney transplants for the beneficiaries. While it has provided some respite for these patients, much more needs to be done, more so by the public as donation of organs after death can only be respite to the suffering of people.”
Endorsing the need to create medical infrastructure in view of the abysmally low rates of transplantation, the Member Parliament said, “While we create public awareness, there is a need to establish facility for organ donation at all medical colleges in the country. Currently, less than 5% of medical colleges only have the facility of organ donation or transplants. It’s a huge challenge, we need to create more trained professionals in the field of organ transplant surgery along with world class facilities to enable organ donation and transplant.”
Commending the spirit of generosity and resilience of donor families and recipients, Smt. Kirron Kher expressed, “Organ donor families exemplify the essence of humanity by turning tragedy into an opportunity for hope. The success stories of our recipients are a testament to the life-changing impact of organ donation. We hope that through events like these, more people will recognize the power they have to save lives through the simple act of registering as organ donors.”
Prof. Vivek Lal, Director PGIMER , recounting the journey of PGIMER’s transplantation stated, “We go back 50 years and Prof. Prof. KS. Chugh and Prof. RVS Yadav put their heads and hearts together and raised a trajectory that has brought us to this pass that we are the spearhead of transplant surgeries in India.”
Lauding the fearless and peerless team of PGIMER, the Director further said “Private sector is taking over almost every sector of Medicare in the country. PGIMER, despite being the public sector hospital, is still the number one hospital in transplantation. This is only because of the PGIMER team’s untiring efforts and unwavering commitment to patient care. Catering to a patient load of over 25 lakhs during last year alone is a clear testimony of the ‘trust’ reposed by people across the nation in the institute. PGIMER is not a hospital but a ‘dham’,” highlighted Director PGIMER.
Earlier speaking on type 1 diabetes and scope of pancreas transplant, Prof. Sanjay Bhadada, Head, Deptt. of Endocrinology, PGIMER said, “Type 1 diabetes can impose a significant burden on individuals, requiring constant management of blood glucose levels through insulin therapy, dietary adjustments, and regular monitoring. Pancreatic transplantation is considered a potential treatment option for individuals with type 1 diabetes, especially those with severe complications or difficulties in glycemic control and even for some type 2 diabetes where it’s difficult to control the levels.”
“PGIMER with its prolific Simultaneous Pancreas Kidney (SPK) Transplant Programme has successfully demonstrated the same through its receients,” stated Prof. Bhadada.
Exemplifying the success of the transplantation were the recipients themselves as they narrated their agonising tales before the transplant and life changing experience after the transplant. These included Heera Singh Daspa (Renal recipient ), Deepak Rai (Heart recipient ), Nidhish Nadan (Simultaneous Pancreas Kidney recipient), Shalini (Simultaneous Pancreas Kidney recipient) and Ashutosh Sharma (Kidney recipient).
It was an extremely emotional moment with every one giving a standing ovation as brave-heart donor families of donors Amanjot Kaur (20 years), Manpreet Singh (30 years), Amandeep Singh (22 years) and Balinder Singh (28 years) were honoured for their exemplary gesture of organ donation amid their own tragedy that gave a second lease of life to terminally ill organ failure patients.
Earlier setting the context, Prof. Ashish Sharma, Head Deptt. of Renal Transplant Surgery, stated, “PGIMER’s tryst with transplantation dates back to 1973 and since then, there has not been any looking back with the numbers consistently rising every year. This speaks volumes about the success of the renal transplant programme. The intent behind organising this event was to celebrate success as well as to acquaint the audience with the tireless effort as an institution that went into achieving various milestones in renal transplant and thereby, build further impetus on PGIMER’s agenda on organ donation and transplantation.”
Dr. Deepesh Kenwar, Deptt. of Renal Transplant Surgery,, aptly summed up the programme by proposing the vote of thanks.
