A Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation Workshop was organised on 11 February 2018 by the Organ Transplant Unit at Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, Sri Lanka. Dr. Niroshan Seneviratne, Consultant Urologist & Transplant Surgeon on behalf of the Steering Committee invited the MOHAN Foundation team to be resource persons along with Dr. Arun Kumar, Professor  & Head, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai.

The workshop began with an ‘Overview of organ transplantation in Sri Lanka’ by Dr. Lakshmi C. Somatunga, Deputy Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Sri Lanka. She elaborated on the national transplant programme. It was aimed at streamlining deceased donor organ transplantation through clarifying the legal process, appointing and training donor coordinators, and developing infrastructure. There was a plan to divide the country into four zones (Northern, Central, Western, Southern) for the purpose of organ allocation. She said that the way forward was to have an allocation protocol and central allocation system in place as well as a regional ethics committee. It was important to do transplants within a legal framework keeping ethical norms, and social and cultural acceptance in mind.

Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation participated in a parallel discussion with senior medical professionals and law makers from Sri Lanka regarding what was required to give an impetus to the deceased organ donation programme in the country