Carrying forward its mandate of social responsibility, Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association took another commendable initiative to promote the noble cause of Organ Donation among its members and organized an orientation session in collaboration with Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) PGIMER at Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, on Monday.The session that witnessed the participation of top brass of Punjab bureaucracy including Anirudh Tewari, TejveerSingh, Gurpreet Sapra, Amrit Kaur, Hussanlal, Rajat Aggarwal, Sibin C ,Tanu Kashyap and Girish Dayalan to mention a few, was presided over by Ms Vini Mahajan, President, Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association.Prof. A.K. Gupta, Medical Superintendent cum Head, Deptt. of Hospital Administration, PGIMER was present on the occasion as the Guest Speaker.Addressing the delegates at the inaugural ceremony, Ms Mahajan said, “Considering the fact that organ donation is less not because there are no potential donors but because the potential donors do not convert into actual donors due to the lack of knowledge, awareness and socio-cultural views. The cause calls for an integrated and sustained effort of the government, healthcare professionals, community and non- government organizations to create a culture of voluntary deceased organ donation.”Ms Mahajan also endorsed the need for top driven initiatives to promote community engagement towards the cause and assured the Association’s full support in giving a boost to the deceased donation programme in the state of Punjab. Speaking as the Guest Speaker, Prof. (Dr.) A.K. Gupta highlighted, “In our country where over 5 lakh people are waiting for organ transplant, awareness about the cause can play a saviour for those suffering from organ failure and living in constant pain.”
Detailing about the key issues and challenges in the implementation of the transplantation programme, Prof. Gupta outlined a roadmap which emphasized the need for developing adequate infrastructure, training and sensitization of ICU/ Emergency staff, registration of hospitals as retrieval/transplantation centres, better reporting of brain death cases and the most importantly, public education about the cause.Prof. Gupta also shared about success story of PGIMER Chandiagrh in the field of deceased donation programme.Commending Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association for its commitment to promote the cause, Prof. Gupta said, “The personal presence and keen interest by top leadership sends a very positive message and will help us in garnering traction towards this national mandate considering the cascading impact of the session.” The session also had the august presence of Gandhi family from Chandigarh, who had showcased the magnanimous gesture of donating the organs of their 21 year old deceased son Parth in 2013, which gave second lease of life to four terminally ill organ failure patients and restored the sight of two more, thereby, impacting six lives in all with the transplantation of heart, liver, kidneys and corneas. The hall was filled with moist eyes when Mr Sanjay Gandhi, father of donor Parth, narrated about his gritty decision of consenting for organ donation braving the gravest tragedy of his life.Earlier setting the tone of the Session, Ms Kavita Singh, Executive Member Punjab State IAS Officers’ Association said. “Nothing can be more self-less than truly giving those in need, a ray of hope and more precisely, a second chance to live. So the session was conceived with an intent to build up focus on this altruistic cause of organ donation by engaging with top leadership from various departments to help boosting the donation/retrieval/transplantation activity in the State and thereby, help saving precious lives.”The highlight of the event was the QA session that saw a very high level of engagement and interaction by the participants, who found the session an enriching experience. The session concluded on a positive note with participants pledging for Organ Donation and filling up of 500 forms by the officers and their organisations.