bIn an effort to become the first ‘organ donors’ campus’ in the state, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, is busy with ‘Nirmala Sparsam’, an initiative mooted by Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM) Department aimed at encouraging its students and staff to donate organs.
According to the college authorities, nearly 2,500 students and around 200 staffs of the college will take pledge and sign the consent letters for donating their organs after death.
College Principal Vincent Nedungad said the college expects the novel campaign to give a big boost to the the organ donation movement in the state. The main aim of the initiative is to organise the staff and students for organ donation for which an organ donor’s army will be formed.
Deepthi Jose, Head of the MHRM Department, said that according to official data, around 40 lakh patients need organs in the country annually but only about 1,000 get them. In the case of eye donation, only 10,000 patients of the 50 lakh receive the organ. Unfortunately, there is no official record of the total brain death cases which are rising. One case of brain death can save six lives and give eye sight to two persons through organ donation. It shows, if about 10 per cent or below of organs is donated effectively, the extreme shortage of organs can be overcome, said Deepthi.
Realising the need for promoting organ donation, the MRHM department conceived a comprehensive campaign. The initiative will address all issues related to organ donation. As part of the project, formation of organ donor’s army, awareness classes for organ donors, their family and organ receivers, competitions for students with an aim to spread the message will be organised. In yet another important move, there is also a plan to facilitate financial support for organ donors and receivers to help meet their post-operative medical expenses.
The army will extend its service outside the campus providing legal, financial and moral support for the needy.
The project will be executed in a phased manner in association with ‘Mrithasanjeevini’ the official organ donation mission of state government and Society for Organ Retrieval and Transplantation (SORT), a Kochi-based NGO.
Through the donors’ army, the consent letters of all students and staff of the college will be handed over to ‘Mrithasanjeevini’ and the college will be declared as ‘Organ Donors’ Campus’ at a function, scheduled to be held by December-end.
The formal launch of ‘Nirmala Sparsam’ will be held at a function at the college on Monday. Members and workers of various organ donors’ organisations will take part.