Manipal Hospitals with a mission to create nationwide awareness on the importance and need for organ donation in India partners with Spreading Hope foundation. Through this partnership Mr. Lourd Vijay, professional dancer, Guinness World Record Holder and Transplant patient will drive 9000 Kms from Chennai to Ladakh and inspire 10 million people to pledge their organs. Lourd Vijay was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in 2013 and underwent a transplant in 2016 at Manipal Hospitals and thus he now wants to inspire people to come forward for such a noble cause.The purpose is to engage with the government, corporates, educational & health care institutions to spread the cause. The aim of the drive is to spread awareness on kidney disease through classroom-type sessions, conduct no-cost kidney screenings and raise awareness on organ donation.Speaking on the Occasion Mr. Praveen Sood, IPS, and Additional Director General of Police “I congratulate Manipal Hospitals for their association and my best wishes for them to accomplish their mission. Organ donation is associated with social stigma/taboo and lack of awareness among us. Giving life after death is an extremely humbling gesture and so we must promote and participate in this noble cause. I am confident that educating people and spreading message far and wide will change mindsets and remove our mental block associated with organ donation.”Speaking on the occasion Ms. Sharmiela Mandre Noted South Indian actress said, “We have always been taught that sharing is caring and I am extremely happy to be part of this cause today which promotes life after death.
Today millions of people die due to the dearth of organ donors when they could have easily got a new lease of life. All it takes is a little awareness and courage and we can make a difference to so many people even after our death. It’s my humble request to be more sensitive towards this and lets us all join hands and pledge organs to save lives.”Speaking on the occasion Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman Manipal Hospitals said, “Organ donation remains one of the top healthcare priorities in India. Every year, over 5 lakh people die due to non-availability of organs. The current organ donation rate in India is 0.5 donors per 10 lakh people as compared to over 30 donors per 10 lakh in Western countries. Despite major advances in medical science, organ transplant is the only alternative in certain cases to save life. One donor can save 8 lives through organ donation and save 50 through tissue donation. Organ transplants can drastically improve the quality of life of the recipients and give them another chance to live. Our association with Spreading Hope is on the right mission to educate people across India about the importance of organ donation.”According to the latest statistics approximately 5 lakh people across the nation die each year, due to wide gap between the number of transplants awaited and the organs available. . Around 1,00000 ( one lakh) people die of liver disease every year, about 220000 (two lakh twenty thousand) people await kidney transplants, almost 10 lakh people await corneal transplants, 5,0000 ( fifty thousand) people await heart transplant and about 2,0000 ( twenty thousand) people are in need of lung transplant.