MALAPPURAM: After winning praise for its eye- and human-body-donation initiatives, Cherattukuzhy, within Malappuram municipality, has embarked on a new mission to achieve the status of a total organ-donation village.
Punarjani Swanthana Vedhi, led by a group of activists in the area, has launched the programme to encourage people in the area to donate their eyes and bodies after death. As many as 260 people have so far signed consent letters to donate eyes and 52 have pledged their bodies.
“Of the 260, five people have already donated their eyes. Of the 52, five have so far donated their bodies. One body was donated to the Vaidyaratnam P S Varier Ayurveda College, Kottakkal, and three were donated to the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) Manjeri. One body was donated to GMCH, Kozhikode,” said Vinod Kalliduban, secretary of the organisation. Vinod says the Swanthana Vedhi wants to encourage people to donate their other organs too to achieve the status of a total organ-donation village.
“To achieve the goal, we will organise year-long organ donation awareness programmes as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of Punarjani Swanthana Vedhi. As part of the celebrations, the Vedhi will host a meeting of people who have already agreed to eye and body donation. We will give the people a chance to sign consent letters to donate their other organs too. During each programme related to the anniversary, we will encourage more people to join our group of organ donors,” Vinod added.
The Vedhi launched the eye-donation programme after being inspired by residents of Cherukulathur village in Kozhikode who helped the area achieve the status of the first complete eye-donating village.
“We found it really difficult to encourage people for eye and body donation. We deal with that difficult task by conducting awareness programmes, including a door-to-door campaign. People from different political parties and religions associate with our programmes. The Swanthana Vedhi also provides free palliative care services in the area,” said Ramani K T, a member of the organisation and councilor of Cherattukuzhy.