New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) Vardhman Mahavir Medical College(VMMC) and Safdarjang Hospital organised a programme heretoday to create awareness about organ donation.
The national organ donation awareness programme wasorganised by the department of urology and renal transplant ofVMMC and Safdarjang Hospital with an aim to promote organdonation and dispel the myths and misconceptions that surroundorgan donation, according to a statement.
"We organised the event to send out a strong message thatno religion prohibits organ donation. Very often we comeacross cases where people tell us that their religion does notallow them to donate organs. We brought together religiousleaders to send out a message that it is wrong," said AnupKumar, Professor and head of the department of urology andrenal transplant of VMMC.
The event also highlighted the huge gap which existsbetween patients who need organ transplants and availabilityof potential donors in the country.
Giving details of organ transplants in India, Kumar saidthat every year, two lakh kidneys were required but only 5,000renal transplants could be done.
Similarly, 50,000 hearts were required annually but only30 get them, while 50,000 liver transplants were required butonly 700 get them.
"The only way to bridge this gap between demand andsupply is cadaveric transplants where patient can donateorgans after brain death," he said. PTI SBR ABASMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.