A high level workshop that included international and Indian stakeholders from the field of organ transplantation met in Delhi at the India Habitat Centre to discuss ways to increase the deceased donation rate in the country and help overcome organ shortage. The workshop was held for three days from 28^th February 2013 to 2^nd March 2013.

Inauguration of the Workshop for Promotion of Deceased Donation – (Left to right) Dr. Marti Manyalich, Dr. Jagdish Prasad, Dr. Francis Delmonico, Dr. Jose Nunez, Dr. Vivekanand Jha, Dr. Alan Almeida, Dr. Sunil Shroff

The participating stakeholders at the workshop included the President Elect from The Transplantation Society, Transplantation Representative from WHO, Representative from Ministry of Health in India, Secretaries of the Indian Society of Nephrology and Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, representatives of MOHAN Foundation, senior consultants in the field of transplantation from various states and Transplant Co-ordinators from across the country. Participants equally represented both public and private hospitals.

 Dr. Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the workshop and gave the keynote address. He congratulated the stakeholders and assured them of his full support in giving a boost to the deceased donation programme in the country. He particularly pointed out the exemplary work being done by MOHAN Foundation in the field.  He emphasized the need for public awareness and training the intensive care physicians across the country. 

Dr. Francis Delmonico, President Elect, The Transplantation Society, who presided over the function, said that transplant coordinators in India could become pioneers in creating an Asian Transplant Coordinators’ Organisation just like the one in Europe. 

Dr Marti Manyalich President of Donation and Transplantation Institute, Barcelona, Spain, emphasized the need for propagation of the Deceased Donation Pathway and Brain Death audits in all ICUs of hospitals registered as transplant or retrieval centers. 

The workshop also provided an opportunity and a forum for transplant coordinators to meet, interact, share challenges and success stories and get a chance to update their knowledge on deceased organ donation.  The three-day workshop after deliberating on various aspects of deceased donation came out with a consensus document of recommendations for the expansion of deceased donation. It was unanimously resolved that the solution to organ shortage and achievement of self-sufficiency in organ donation for all states in India is possible only through systematic strengthening of the deceased donor programme.