By IANS,
New Delhi: Every year Indians need 100,000 organ transplants but a meagre 4,000 are being done due to lack of donors. And to create awareness and to promote organ donation, doctors and students Saturday came together here for a two-km walk.
The participants of the ‘Donorthon 2010’, walked the two-km stretch near the Akshardham temple in east Delhi.
“Pledging your organs for donation can help save a lot of lives. A single brain dead person can donate as many as 30 organs and tissues and save as many as six lives,” said A.S.Soin, director of liver transplantation at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here.
“We need to raise awareness levels so as to ensure that more and more people pledge to donate their organs after death. It is a matter of great concern that the organ donation rate in the country is among the lowest anywhere despite India having the largest number of potential donors in the world,” Soin said.
” ‘Donorthon 2010’ is an attempt to kick-start a process that will hopefully trigger a change of attitude vis-a-vis organ donation and through this help save a lot of lives,” he added.
It is estimated that around 25,000 people need to donate their organs every year to fulfill country’s transplant needs.