New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung Tuesday directed the health department to launch awareness campaigns about organ donation in schools and initiate curriculum changes to sensitise children about the issue.
"There is a need to launch awareness campaigns about organ donation right from schools and also initiate curriculum changes so that children are sensitised about the importance of organ donation right from their childhood," said Jung after inaugurating the one-day 'Organ Transplant Stakeholders Conference' organised by the department.
He also exhorted a groups of doctors, who participated in the event, to take their messages of organ donation beyond seminars and conferences into the wider public domain.
"We celebrate birth of a child, festivals and so many occasions. Organ donation is a noble act as when we donate our organ we save a life and allow it to live on, which very much calls for celebration," said Jung, who also launched an e-reporting portal of organ transplant on the occasion.
AIIMS Director M C Mishra, who was present at the event, said the donor scene in India is still very "dismal".
"In western countries, people are much more aware and thus, around 70-80 per cent of people pledge their organs. However in India, only about 0.01 per cent do so.
"There are lot of misconceptions surrounding organ donation and we doctors have to take the responsibility to spread the message of organ donation," he said.
He also talked about constituting a daily report of brain death cases so that their families could be sensitised about organ donation to save another life.
