Jamshedpur: A city-based voluntary organisation has come forward to bridge the dismal gap between the demand and supply of organs and reducing the number of people who die waiting for a transplant.
Body Donation Organ Donation Joint Campaign, an independent wing of NGO Science for Society, has initiated a drive to raise awareness, expand and network of outfits working for the same cause seek the state government's intervention in addressing the vital issue.
As a first step, an awareness programme was organised by the outfit at The Graduate School College for Women on Sunday.
The event was attended by Calcutta-based paediatrician Kuntal Biswas, former deputy director of National Metallurgical Laboratory, social worker S.K. Narang and 50 other representatives of various social organisations in the city.
The outfit believes that blood and eye donation should be included under the larger umbrella of organ donation and urged the concerned social organisations to work together.
"The awareness about organ donation is too less. Even a simple thing like blood donation is looked upon with fear and doubt in rural areas. Besides creating awareness, we are trying to create a concrete network system encompassing organ donation, retrieval and storage starting with Jamshedpur," convener of Body Donation Organ Donation Joint Campaign, D.N.S. Anand, said.
The joint campaign committee has already submitted a memorandum to East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar, seeking technical expertise on organ donation from government colleges such as MGM Medical College and Hospital.
"We are a better critic, but somehow have not been able to do much in this sector. There are so many deaths everyday. So many needy patients are waiting for transplants to lead a healthy life, but there is no system to bridge the gap. This is the first step in the creation of a proper network and working towards the cause," Anand added.
Roshni, a city-based voluntary organisation working in the field of cornea donation, also face similar challenges.
"We speak a lot and do nothing. There are either no awareness or people have apprehensions about donating an organ or body. We have to bust the myths and collectively work towards the goal," social worker Purabi Ghosh, who attended the programme, said.
