Jaipur: 150 doctors & activists take part in cyclothon, pledge organ donation

JAIPUR: Aiming to generate awareness among people on organ donation, Sawai Man Singh Hospital doctors and activists took part in a cyclothon here on Saturday. In all, 150 cyclists signed a pledge to donate their organs.
They also motivated others to donate organs and save the lives of the needy.
“It is a myth that signing or taking a pledge for organ donation will allow the government to harvest the organs when a person is declared brain dead. Before harvesting the organs, the doctors take consent from the family and only after that the organs are retrieved. Those who are taking pledge should inform the families that they wanted to donate their organs in case they are declared brain dead after an accident or any other medical condition,” said Dr Manish Sharma, coordinator, State Organ Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO)
On the occasion, SMS Medical College principal and controller Dr Sudhir Bhandari said the institute now has developed heart transplant and liver transplant facilities.
According to experts, there is a need for over 2 lakh kidney donations, but only around 7,000 patients are able to get a transplant in the country. Similarly, around 50,000 patients are waiting for liver transplants, but around 1,000 gets the organ. Besides, 50,000 patients are waiting for a heart transplants, but around 150 patients get it.
In Rajasthan, the cadaver donation programme was started at a private hospital in 2015.