The maturity of a cadaver transplant programme in a country is judged by a few factors. One of these factors include having a cohesive Transplant Co-ordinators group. In India, we took the first step in this direction at the last Indian Society of Organ Transplantation (ISOT) meeting that was held at Hyderabad. The formation of such a forum had been on the cards for the last couple of years; however due to lack of numbers this had not been possible. On the first day of the conference the “National Transplant Co—ordinators Organisation” (NATCO) was formally inaugurated to give the co-ordinators a plat form to share their experiences and learn from one another.

The meet was incited and partly funded by MOHAN Foundation and supported by ISOT. Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Hon. Executive director from Hyderabad and Mr. Tamil Maran, transplant coordinator from CMC, Vellore took keen interest in organizing the event and making it all happen. Both have worked hard to form the “organ sharing network” that has been facilitated by MOHAN Foundation. There were co-ordinators from different parts of the country who attended the function and the day’s worksho0p that followed. They all expressed their commitment to making the cadaver program a success in India.  The experiences of most co-ordinators were very similar and a few common things emerged from the meet. Some of the interesting observations from the meeting that were worth noting were that most of them felt that the major hurdle to the programme was not approaching potential donor families but tackling the hospital administration and sometimes doctors. The other major constraint was the lack of resources earmarked to give a push to the programme. The highlight of the workshop in the afternoon was an almost real life “Role-play” in approaching an organ donor family that was performed by some of the experienced coo-ordinators.

At present there are about a dozen trained transplant co-ordinators. Some of them have spent time abroad in busy transplant units, some have even been to Spain and have come back well-trained units,some have even been to Spain and have come back well-trained and motivated. They are all eager to help the cause of solid organ donation and disperse their experience and knowledge. The hospitals and doctors should realize their talent and give them encouragement to help with the cadaver programme.