With a view to initiating a successful deceased organ donation programme in Chennai, the Dean of Madras Medical College & Government General Hospital, Prof. J. Mohanasundaram, signed a landmark MOU with MOHAN Foundation in February 2010. According to the MOU, MOHAN Foundation would place its Transplant coordinators in GH to do grief counselling, motivate families of brain dead patients and facilitate the organ donation and retrieval process. Ms. Veena was the first Transplant coordinator to be placed in GH. And in the very same month, a record of sorts was created when, after counselling, the families of two brain dead patients (involved in road traffic accidents) both agreed to donate the organs of their loved ones, Venkatesan, 29 and Partiban, 42.

Veena helped facilitate the organ donation and retrieval process through a hectic 48-hour period. Three of the kidneys that were retrieved were used for patients in GH and the fourth kidney went to Government Stanley Hospital. All four corneas went to the Governement Eye Hospital. The heart valves were retrieved for future use. It was truly a landmark event in the history of the Government General Hospital, now in its 175^th year.     

Editor’s note: Since then Transplant coordinators, Ms. Sujatha and Mr. Christopher, from MOHAN Foundation have joined Ms. Veena in GH. And from February 2010 to June 2010, with the able support of the doctors, nurses, lab technicians, helpers, forensic medicine staff and the police, the transplant coordinators have successfully facilitated organ donations from 11deceased donors in GH. This has helped the public to gain trust in the deceased organ donation programme since the poor and needy are helped to get a transplant free of cost.