Manipal Hospitals Opens the East Region's Deceased Organ and Tissue Donation Program

News Desk, News Nation 360 : Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant (MOST), a programme under Manipal Hospitals, inaugurated its Eastern Region chapter dedicated to 'Deceased Organ and Tissue Donation' at Medica Superspecialty Hospital, which is a part of the Manipal Hospitals Network in Kolkata. The launch ceremony, where renowned dignitaries and senior medical professionals such as Prof. (Dr) Manimay Bandhopadhyay (ROTTO & IPGMER), Prof. (Dr.) Aniruddha Neogi (SOTTO), Prof. (Dr.) Debansu Sarkar (ROTTO), Dr (Col) Avnish Seth (MOST), Dr. Arpita Ray Chowdhury (ISOT & Manipal Hospital, Mukundapur), Dr. Shugota Chakrabarti (Manipal Hospitals – East), and Dr. Ayanabh Debgupta (Manipal Hospitals, East) were present. This was a collaborative attempt to streamline deceased organ donation systems by promoting coordination and sensitisation of the masses. Despite better health care, India is saddled with an enormous gap in the demand and supply of organs that results in over 6,000 people dying each day as a result of a lack of transplants. Although there has been some advancement in living donor transplants for kidneys and livers, organs such as the heart and lungs can only be sourced from brain-dead donors, where rates of awareness and consent are extremely low; it is estimated that 7,000 to 8,000 patients might be helped by heart transplants each year, but fewer than 400 operations are carried out. The Eastern region, specifically, has experienced minimal long-term activity on this front, and efforts like MOST are imperative to changing the organ donation picture in the country. In his address, Prof. (Dr) Manimay Bandhopadhyay, Director of Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) & Director- Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER), shared that the Manipal Group of Hospitals' steadfast commitment to dead organ donation is encouraging. This is a much-needed glimmer of hope for ROTTO. Although organ donation started to increase in 2018, progress has mostly stopped since then, and the pandemic has further slowed the pace of change. The most difficult part is when families are asked to think about donating, which is usually immediately following the unexpected and painful death of a loved one. Since they are the ones who have the most direct contact with families during those critical hours, ICU and critical care physicians play a significant role in this situation. To better assist bereaved families and guarantee open, caring dialogues, they are concentrating on educating and enlightening these specialists.

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