Moodbidri: An organ donation awareness programme was held at the Pandit Health Resort & Spa, Moodbidri to celebrate Organ Donation Day. The programme was jointly organized by the Rotary Club (Moodbidri) & Pandit Health Resort & Spa.
The 21 guests of honour at the event included a range of dignitaries: local MLA Umanath Kotian, former Minister, Govt. of Karnataka, K Amarnath Shetty, BJP District Vice President Jagdish Adhikari, former MLC Capt. Ganesh Karnik, former MLA and minister, Govt. of Karanataka, Abhayachandra Jain, the DK District Medical Officer Smt. Rajeshwari Devi, Coast Guard (Karnataka) DIG SS Dasila, Dr. Prashanth Marla, Managing Director, AJ Hospital, Dr. Vinay Alva, Managing Director, Alvas Health Center, Prince Pinto, Chairman, My Road Runner, Amit Kumar, DC, CISF Mangalore Airport, Lions Club District Governor Ronald Gomes and Ms Archana, Airport Manager, Indigo Mangalore. Also joining the guests of honour from the press were CA Valerian Dalmaida, Director. Newskarnataka, Brian Fernandes, Director and Managing Editor, Karnataka Today, NV Paulose, Director Global TV and Spearhead Media Pvt. Ltd. and Laxman Kunder, Chairman and Managing Director V4 News, Mangalore.
The programme commenced with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp. Pandit Health Resort & Spa Chairperson Ruby Agarwal welcomed the gathering highlighting the need for the programme – the need for awareness about organ donation. She said every year this awareness programme is held on Organ Donation Day August 13th in the hope that awareness grows among the citizenry and the government about this vital life-saving methodology.
In his keynote address, Lal Goel, Chairman Organ Donation Foundation of India encouraged all the attendees to pledge their organs in order to save the lives of lakhs of people. “Every minute, a person dies in India for want of organs”, he said. He recounted his trip to the UK and the US where he interacted with a wide range of people connected to the organ donation programme in those nations and highlighted the differences in policy and methodologies of retrieval in those countries vis a vis India. In the UK he said, come the fall of 2020, a new already legislated system of compulsory membership of the organ donation programme will come into effect. A person who wants to opt-out will not get the benefit of the system he said. In the US, he said that there are retrieval technicians to retrieve organs, which makes the process smoother, faster, cheaper and easier. Its time these policies and processes are brought to India he said, adding that in the meanwhile the best we can do is spread awareness of the purpose and importance of organ donation and encourage people to do the same.
Shri Umanath A Kotian, MLA, said that in the past people walked to make a living, today, people walk to live. Life is important, but health and fitness levels have changed with the changes in the ease of living index and that is why organ donation has become very important. He pledged to spread the awareness and also become an organ donor himself – In this connection, he quoted his experience when his brother met with an accident and he came in contact with Dr Prashanth Marla at AJ Hospital.
Dr Marla, Managing Director, AJ Hospital, which is at the forefront of the organ donation campaign said that the first donors of the district were the staff of his hospital and this came about after several rounds of awareness programmes conducted by him for them and others. He said that they are currently doing Kidney transplants and will gradually move into heart and liver transplants too. The costs of transplants are not as prohibitive as before, though there are legal processes to be followed. He said that beating heart donors (brain dead – mainly accident victims on life support) only can provide solid organs, while those who die a natural death can only provide their skin, bone, and eyes as donations for others. Therefore he said, it’s important that as many as possible join the programme because we do not know what the morrow will bring. If citizens join the programme, they can help accident survivors/others in need of organ transplants survive and improve their quality of life, should they find themselves in a difficult place, health-wise.
CA Valerian Dalmaida, Director, Newskarnataka.com said that the Newskarnataka.com group was a positive media force in the state and is supporting many such causes including the war on narcotics abuse. In fact, he said, that NewsKarnataka.com has shot and aired almost 35 episodes on organ donation with the help of Mr. Lal Goel and promised to take this programme further for the benefit of society.
Lion Jaya Satheesan, a living liver donor, was felicitated with a shawl and a badge provided by the Donate Life Organisation in New Jersey, USA. She has is now a Lions District Ambassador for the Lions District organ donation programme. Later speaking on the occasion District Governor, Lion Ronald Gomes, welcomed the Shri Lal Goel’s initiatives and indicated he would and could join hands with this programme as it is also part of his District programme.
All the dignitaries spoke highly of Mr Lal Goel’s initiatives for organ donation awareness and pledged to take up the programme wherever they are invited in their official capacities which would be a big boost to the programme.
Rotary Club (Moodbidri) President C H Abdul Gafoor delivered the vote of thanks. The programme was compered by SNM Polytechnic (Moodbidri) Principal Pinto and it was brought to an end by cutting a cake to mark the occasion of Ruby Agarwal’s birthday.
