Minister launches exclusive site for organ donors

At an event that took place at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital to mark Organ Donation Awareness Week, Dr C Vijay Bhaskar, Minister for Health, Government of Tami Nadu, launched the website transtan.tn.gov.in. The website will make registration for organ donation easier and people can directly avail donor pledge forms and cards from it.

Addressing the gathering that also included families of organ donors, who were felicitated at the event, Dr J Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said, “Tamil Nadu is first among the country when it comes to organ donation. This website is an effort to provide a boost to the whole system. We are also a role model for other states in the country and it is largely due to the transparent system that is in place.” 

“In 2016 alone there have been 169 donations. Since the inception of TRANSTAN in 2008, 4,938 organs have been donated by 887 donors till the end of October this year,” he added.

Dr Vijaya Bhaskar also said that the decentralised system has aiding several patients who suffer from critical illnesses to receive a new lease on life. He said, “This is due to the vision of our honourable Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. We must also acknowledge the large heartedness of the family members of donors who in the hour of grief make the difficult decision of donating the organs.” He added that, at present, an organ donation was being done every two days. The health officials also pointed out that several complex transplant procedures were being performed at government hospitals like the Government Stanley Medical College and the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.

Apart from the government, private hospitals like Apollo Hospitals and SRM Institute for Medical Science (SIMS) held awareness programmes in the city on Friday. Apollo Speciality Hospitals marked the week by erecting an 11-foot-tall tree labelled the ‘Tree of Life’ as a tribute to organ donors. At SIMS, the donor families were honoured and the staff pledged to create awareness on organ donations.