Chandigarh, August 26: 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. An orientation session was organised in collaboration with Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) PGIMER at Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, on Monday.
The session was attended by the top brass of Punjab bureaucracy, including Anirudh Tiwari, TejveerSingh, Gurpreet Sapra, Hussanlal, Amrit Kaur, Rajat Aggarwal, Sibin C ,Tanu Kashyap and Girish Dayalan to mention a few. The session 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 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 organ 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 organ 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 shown the magnanimous gesture of donating the organs of their 21 year old son Parth in 2013. This gesture had given a new lease of life to six persons.
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.
