Many ‘firsts’ were achieved at the 29th Transplant Coordinators’ Training Programme held in Chennai in May 2015.

A heart transplant recipient underwent training.

There was international representation – participants and faculty.

The mother of a deceased donor from Indore shared her experience. Mrs. Anita Mantri donated the organs of her 18-year-old son Anshul when he became brain dead after a train accident in Mumbai in January 2014.

And this was the first time, at the valedictory function, that we had the privilege of having Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu in our midst at MOHAN Foundation.

There were 27 participants not only from various parts of the country (Chennai, Kolkata, Mangalore, Nagpur), but also from Botswana - Ms. Tebogo Bantshi from Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone. It was a mixed group of nurses, social workers, laboratory and dialysis technologists. In addition, a heart transplant recipient also underwent the training. Ms. Hvovi Minocherhomji, 21, from Mumbai received a heart transplant thanks to a deceased donor in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai in June 2014. She is now a strong advocate of the deceased donation programme and wants to ‘give back’ by spreading the message. There was also a research fellow (Thomas J. Watson Fellowship) from USA, Ms. Simone Schriger, who was there to observe and learn from the programme. Her project was about  the donation of different parts of the human body and to look at the psychological and cultural factors that influence donation patterns in different countries. She spent six months in South Africa, where she worked alongside Dr. Elmi Muller (from whom she originally heard about MOHAN Foundation) learning about HIV positive organ donors and the climate around organ donation in South Africa. She shared some of her perspectives with the other participants.

At the valedictory function, the participants received their completion certificates from Dr.J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health  &  Family  Welfare,  Government of       Tamil Nadu. Dr. Radhakrishnan said that transplant coordinators play a pivotal role in deceased organ donation. He expressed his appreciation for the work that was being done by MOHAN Foundation.