The Government of Kerala formally initiated the deceased organ donation and transplantation programme in the state in 2102. A lot of thought has gone into putting together an efficient and effective programme. The Health Department of the Government of Kerala held extensive consultative meetings with Tamil Nadu, which has the country’s best run deceased organ donation programme. A workshop on Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation was held in August 2012 in Trivandrum to discuss the best way forward. A series of Government Orders (GOs) were issued that laid down systems and procedures for deceased organ donation and transplantation in Kerala. The programme was named ‘Mrithasanjeevani’ and an organ sharing registry was put in place – Kerala Network for Organ Sharing (www.knos.org.in). The Government of Kerala has also provisionally allocated an amount of Rs. 5 crores for the implementation of various activities and strengthening the infrastructure facilities. Dr. Ramdas Pisharody, Principal, Government Medical College, Trivandrum (GMCT) was appointed as the State Convenor of the programme.

From the initiation of the programme in August 2012 till June 2013, there have been 19 deceased multi-organ donors. As a result, 33 kidneys, 6 livers and 2 hearts were retrieved.

Recognizing the extensive experience and efforts of MOHAN Foundation in facilitating deceased organ donation through trained transplant coordinators in the country, another GO was issued by the Govt. of Kerala. The GO stated that through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Trivandrum Medical College and MOHAN Foundation, transplant coordinators trained by the Foundation would be deputed to work on Mrithasanjeevani and KNOS. The KNOS website maintains details of recipients, registration of hospitals, donor details and transplant surgery details. There are about 502 patients that are registered under KNOS - 443 patients are registered for kidney, 53 patients are registered for liver and 6 patients are waiting for heart. At present, a central office has started functioning at Super Specialty Block, Government Medical College, Trivandrum.